The Advance Family Planning Advocacy Resource Pack

Dear Trainer,

The Advance Family Planning (AFP) Advocacy Resource Pack has been designed specifically to support advocates to facilitate strategy workshops, lead trainings and support implementation of strategies developed. The customized tools and materials found in this resource pack will aid those developing and implementing advocacy strategies to increase political and financial support for family planning and reproductive health at the national, regional and global levels.

Many of these materials are adapted with permission from the Spitfire Strategies methodology and Smart Chart™. Others are dynamic presentations of evidence on family planning that have proven successful in persuading decision-makers to take action.

The AFP Resource Pack includes the following materials:

  • Powerpoint slides for orienting advocates to the AFP approach and the Smart Chart™and use inadvocacy strategy development, with an image bank to allow users to customize their own presentations;
  • Training checklist to assist facilitators with logistics issues;
  • Evaluation forms for advocacy trainings and workshops;
  • Smart Chart™ worksheet in Microsoft Word and powerpoint;
  • Briefing materials on AFP
  • AFP project brief
  • Introductory powerpoint slides on AFP
  • Briefing materials on family planning issues
  • Repositioning FP Toolkit: Guidelines for Advocacy Action
  • Family Planning Saves Lives
  • Achieving the MDGs: The Contribution of Family Planning (briefers for Francophone West Africa and country specific versions for 9 West African countries – in French and English)

How to use these materials

  • Advocacy Strategy Training. To assist in training other advocates, the Resource Pack includes powerpoint slides for orienting advocates to the Smart Chart™ and strategy development. These slides have detailed notes on nearly every page to guide the trainer through the presentation. As noted above, an image bank is provided at the end so the trainer can pick and choose photos to include in the presentation. Trainers are welcome to use images more specific to their country, project or advocacy situation where applicable.

Trainers are also encouraged to vist the Spitfire Strategies™website to go through the interactive Smart Chart™ tool to help familiarize themselves with this method of designing a specific and focused strategy.

  • Organizing a training or workshop. A training checklist has been provided to guide trainers through every step of organizing and planning for a training.
  • Evaluation. Forms have been included for the trainer to use or adapt to get feedback on the training. It is recommended that some form of evaluation be used so that the trainer knows what the strengths and weaknesses of the training are, and can adapt and improve where necessary.
  • Onsite Strategy Development. A Smart Chart™worksheet has been included in Word form, and in powerpoint. The powerpoint form will allow the trainer to project the information as you write it. The Word document follows the layout of the original Smart Chart™. Trainers are also encouraged to go online and practice using the online interactive version of the Smart Chart™ at
  • Orientation to the AFP initiative and approach. In addition to the advocacy training materials, AFP related materials have been included in the Resource Pack, including a project brief and powerpoint slides on the project. The project brief can be photo copied and distributed to participants attending the training. The powerpoint slides contain notes to help guide the trainer through delivering this presentation if they are not familiar with AFP.
  • Providing an evidence-based approach. Finally, the Resource Pack includes a PDF version of the Repositioning FP Toolkit: Guidelines for Advocacy Action. This has been included to ensure the trainer and participants are up to speed on current FP advocacy issues.

For further information about the AFP Resource Pack or its use, please contact:

AFP

The Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

615 N. Wolfe Street, Room W4503

Baltimore MD 21205

For further information about Spitfire Strategies™, please visit their website at

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