Workshop on Public Advocacy begins in Mussoorie

MUSSOORIE, 15 Sept: The 5 days Training of Trainers (TOT) Workshop on Capacity Building of Community Based Organisations on Advocacy Strategies in Uttarakhand began today at a hotel in Barlowganj. The workshop is being organised by SEWA (Society for Ecology, Water Resources and Afforestation) and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal.
The participants belonging to various Non Governmental Organisations from Uttarakhand attended the training programme.
International Resource Person on Advocacy Anmol Jain welcomed the participants and the resource persons Tarun Joshi, Rajani Sharma (Ankur Welfare Society) and Nirmal on the occasion.
The first session began with the registration and introduction of all the trainees.
Anmol Jain and Tarun Joshi explained the context of training through interactive sessions with the participants. The goal of TOT was to enhance the understanding and skills in advocacy strategies, so that participants could themselves work as trainees in advocacy within respective constituencies.
The training was imparted in the new technique of capacity building to understand the conceptual framework of advocacy and its strategy processes.
In the second session, the paradigm shift in development was discussed in which Anmol Jain highlighted the fact that poverty was not God given but it surely was man given. He further added that the poor were poor because of the faulty policies of the government and the indifferent attitude of society.
Tarun Joshi, in his presentation, highlighted the fact that the balance of power in the present days had shifted from need based to market based. He further said that the forest department, itself, had become a landlord in Uttarakhand and was destroying the basic social fabric of the region, therefore, a pro-poor, right based approach in advocacy was required. The trainees were imparted training in knowledge based approach for dealing with the various issues that needed attention on priority basis.
Tarun Joshi also stressed the fact that only 1 percent of women in the world had the right to property and trainees ought to be ready to stand for gender issues in Uttarakhand.
In the concluding session of the day, Anmol Jain said that the trainees had to be ready to shake the tree of power vigorously to enjoy the fruits of development and that could happen only with adequate training and right approach in advocacy.
Anmol Jain, Secretary of SEWA and international resource person on advocacy, told Garhwal Post that the programme for “Capacity Building of Community Based Organisations in Advocacy Strategies in the Hindu Kush Himalayas,” was, therefore, conceived under the CEGG programme division of ICIMOD and was initiated in June, 2002. The programme targeted focused areas in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan although, in its later stages, the programme was also able to include Afghanistan. The broad objective of the programme was that empowerment of selected CBOs in the region, in advocacy skills and approaches would help develop strategies to address social, economic and gender equity issues.
Tomorrow, the training will focus on gender issues in advocacy and ignite the participants in developing the concrete methodology for advocacy initiatives.
Manjari Mehta, international trainer, on gender Issues will address the trainees tomorrow.