Advocacy for Inclusive Security Curriculum
Photo: World Bank
Our training resources integrate content modules about peace and security with skills modules that equip women leaders seeking to end violent conflict and rebuild their societies.
Informed by experience
Our materials draw on 15 years of experience facilitating and advocating in some of the most difficult circumstances in the world. We developed these resources based on what we learned in hundreds of trainings we conducted.
Grounded in adult learning
We set out to create practical, flexible guidance on how to build skills and knowledge using interactive methodologies rooted in principles of adult learning. We created case studies, simulations, exercises, and videos to make the material accessible to people with a range of learning styles.
Tailored for conflict areas
Our materials fill a gap for practitioners and trainers. While there are many resources on policy advocacy, very few are geared toward advocates working in conflict areas to make peace and security decision-making more inclusive.
Advocacy Skills Curriculum
The Advocacy for Inclusive Security Curriculum, published in 2017, captures the core of our skills curriculum. Its nine modules offer a step-by-step, strategic framework for designing and executing high-impact advocacy strategies.
Click wedges on the image to explore the advocacy cycle.
Introduction to Advocacy
Here’s our approach to advocacy, along with a conceptual framework for thinking strategically about collective action. This module explores examples of how women have mobilized for peace and security, as well as the reasons why women’s inclusion matters.
Download PDFAnalyze Problems
Understanding the problem lets you identify issues for policy action and widen the range of possible solutions. This module provides tools to identify a policy issue, analyze the root causes and effects, and set a vision for the future.
Download PDFResearch and Collect Data
Thorough grasp of a problem requires a well-conceived research and data collection plan. This module provides guidance on data collection tools, including how to conduct policy analysis, community consultations, interviews, and focus groups.
Download PDFDevelop Recommendations
This module lays out steps for developing actionable recommendations. This is a core component of any advocacy strategy: the recommendations require you to identify what change you envision, who can help make that change, and how they can make that change a reality.
Download PDFMobilize Allies, Partners, and Constituents
Advocacy is most impactful when people work together. This module helps you mobilize constituents to support and rally behind an advocacy campaign. It explores tools and approaches for creating and managing a a coalition or a network.
Download PDFChoose Tactics
Different circumstances necessitate different tactics. This module introduces constructive and confrontational approaches to advocacy—and helps you decide which to use. It also includes material on how to develop coherent action plans.
Download PDFMobilize Resources
Resources are vital for any advocacy strategy to succeed. This module presents approaches for mobilizing resources, from fundraising to taking stock of often-overlooked assets like relationships, networks, technical expertise, and commitments to work together. It also includes ideas for messaging to funders.
Download PDFMessage
Messaging is about strategic communication and understanding how to influence others. This module helps you package your recommendations to persuade different audiences to support your cause and take action. It focuses on how to create and deliver messages to policymakers and the media.
Download PDFMonitor and Evaluate Progress
Reflection and learning are important for strengthening skills. This module introduces tools for evaluating impact, such as a logical framework, that can make advocacy efforts more effective. It also includes basic tools for implementing a monitoring and evaluation system.
Download PDFThe Curriculum User Guide
This user guide serves as a roadmap for using the nine advocacy modules. It provides an overview of Inclusive Security’s approach to training, including best practices and guidance on workshop design, as well as sample agendas.
Key Security Concepts Curriculum
These six modules are from Inclusive Security: A Curriculum for Women Waging Peace, published in 2009, and each includes a curriculum guide, lecture notes, and activity sheets.
Peace Negotiations and Agreements
Women remain largely excluded from formal negotiations despite attempts to participate and international policies that explicitly call for women’s involvement. This module provides an overview of the phases, actors, and elements of a peace process to help identify opportunities for women’s inclusion. Expanding the list of parties who participate in formal negotiations and buttressing informal efforts to bridge divides are critical steps toward sustainable peace.
Post-Conflict Reconstruction
Reconstruction focuses on rebuilding social, political, and economic institutions. This module covers the role of international actors in post-conflict reconstruction as well as entry points for women to influence that work.
Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration
The process of disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) moves a society from war to peace. It covers the removal of arms from fighting forces (disarmament), the disbanding of military formations (demobilization), and the reintegration of combatants in their communities. This material explores how DDR often overlooks women and strategies to improve efforts.
Transitional Justice
This module focuses on the short-term judicial and non-judicial mechanisms that address the legacy of human rights abuses and violence during a society’s transition away from conflict or authoritarian rule. The material focuses on justice issues that affect women and the roles women can play.
Legislation Affecting Women
Countries emerging from war often must rewrite their constitutions, rethink their legal codes, and rework their judicial processes. This module considers how legislation affects women and the ways it incorporates women’s rights or addresses their priorities. It also touches on how women as legislators, government officials, or members of civil society influence legislation.
Democracy and Government
The purpose of this module is to unpack the elements of “good governance,” which include democratization, free and fair elections, political parties, civil society, and principles of accountability. The module explores the barriers that can block full participation of women in democracies.
Learn More
One of the core elements of Inclusive Security’s programming has been to build the capacity of civil society and government actors to meaningfully affect the outcomes of peace processes.
Additional Training Material
Inclusive Security, Sustainable Peace: A Toolkit for Advocacy and Action
A resource for women peacebuilders and practitioners. It was co-published by Inclusive Security and International Alert in 2004 and covers four content areas: conflict prevention, resolution, and reconstruction; security issues; justice, governance, and civil society; and protecting vulnerable groups. The toolkit outlines the components of peacebuilding and describes how women are affected by and contribute to peacemaking and security.
