Do you want to diversify your advocacy strategy and increase legitimacy in your advocacy asks? Including the realities of (young) people with storytelling can add value to advocacy and research in multiple ways: it increases legitimacy by basing messages on people’s realities and it is an impactful tool for generating support. 

Our workshop offer participants to:

• understand the benefits of storytelling as a participatory tool and alternative advocacy method;
• ability to support the creation of engaging and authentic digital stories and strategies for using these for advocacy;
• learn how to use creative and technical tools and techniques to create a safe online sharing space and facilitate interactive online sessions on digital storytelling.

Our evaluations indicate that 100% of our participants fully know how to use storytelling in their work and 76% have already included it in their advocacy strategy. Furthermore 78% are confident they know the tools to facilitate the development of digital stories.

Do you seek to increase the retention rate and meaningful involvement of young people in your programs?

We offer a range of tailored tools and expertise to achieve your desired outcomes. We know that youth involvement is key. We do this in co-creation with you and with young people, and offer support with:

• Reviewing and updating your existing peer-led approaches and curricula to infuse them with creative methodologies such as music, dance, and storytelling. Our starting point is the needs of young people and we focus on co-creation, building social emotional competences and connecting with youth culture.
• Training your peer facilitators and staff in engaging on- and offline facilitation techniques: we give you the tools, skills, and confidence to deliver sessions based on experiential learning methodologies and creative facilitation methodologies such as music and dance.
• Designing and scaling peer-led approaches: for example by offering guidance on the role of peer facilitators vs. teachers, how to create safe spaces for peer learning, and how to monitor and scale up peer-led approaches.
• Training of local staff in how to train and support peer facilitators and youth advocates, for example by taking power dynamics and youth-adult partnership principles into consideration.

Would you like to increase the effectiveness of your campaigns?

Our user-centered Campaign Lab and E-learning module works with proven strategy tools, design thinking, and participatory approaches to problem solving. These Campaign Labs aim to:

1) strengthen the capacity of communication staff from CSO’s in the program on how to engage the public through reviewing current trends and knowledge on digital campaigning, offline mobilization and media partnerships in the current climate,

2) Stimulate an iterative process of campaign design,

3) Increase reach, relevance and impact of public engagement activities and campaigns.

We also offer support on how to run consultations with young people for research and advocacy.

Do you want to reach, inform and influence young people on diversity, gender and SRHR?

Young people form the majority of the world’s population and are at the heart of sexual and reproductive health and rights programs. Media, celebrities, political youth leaders, activists, pop icons, journalists, YouTube artists and other types of influencers play an important role in how young people shape their opinions and ideas.  This means that it is essential to know how social media works, how to reach your audiences and how to get the most out of your channels, e.g. by working with brands and influencers.

We offer expertise around:

• what social media has to offer and which channel to use for what purpose
• effective use of social media
• content strategy and development
• trend watching and social listening
• working with influencers and celebrities, youth branding and engaging and activating young people online

Do you want to actively contribute to youth leadership and develop the professional and personal capacities of youth advocates?

Working in large partnerships and being involved in (inter)national advocacy processes require a number of skills and competencies. With the Academy4Life, we designed an online platform where youth advocates can work on their professional and personal skills, such as public speaking and effective influencing. The current program – which can be contextualized and adapted – is a trajectory:

• Which consists of six online modules mixing relevant content, assignments, personalized feedback and coaching
• The time-investment for youth advocates joining the trajectory is 2 hours per week, for a time period of 3 months
• The modules have been co-created and tested by youth advocates and have been highly valued for their design, youth-friendly and fun way of learning and relevant content.