Advocacy Program on Literacy for Adult Women

Since May, 2007, BCCP has been working with UNESCO to direct advocacy programs with the aim to generate more interest in literacy for adult women at the policy-making level and propagate the importance and necessity of literacy in general at the national level. It is true that the last three decades have seen an increase in literacy rate in Bangladesh. However, the country is still among those with the lowest literacy rate. It is important to remember that Bangladesh was a signatory to the 2000 Dakar Declaration of Education for All (EFA) which enjoined on Bangladesh a 50 percent increase in its adult literacy rate by 2015 and its continuity in the succeeding years.

This is, however, an enormous task that can be accomplished only through the concerted effort of both government and non-government organizations at national, regional and local levels. Keeping this in view, UNESCO Bangladesh, in active collaboration with the government, has been working with different NGOs to establish Community Learning Centers (CLCs) at selected intervention areas of all six divisions of Bangladesh. As part of this process UNESCO plans a nationwide advocacy campaign with policy-makers and stakeholders targeting illiterate population in selected areas close to the CLCs. To achieve this goal UNESCO has planned a set of initiatives over a period of ten years entitled ‘Literacy Initiative for Empowerment.’ BCCP is providing technical assistance in one of those initiatives. BCCP is set to execute the initiative through advocacy for adult literacy at three levels, e.g., policy-making level, regional level and local level. The objective of this initiative is to increase the skill of managers and other associated officials of UNESCO’s partner NGOs in conducting advocacy programs with policy-makers and beneficiaries and to prepare suitable advocacy tools. As an initial step, BCCP has organized liaison meetings with UNESCO’s partner NGOs to collect information on the current advocacy programs being carried out at their CLCs. Besides, a team of BCCP experts has collected communication materials used by different NGOs for advocacy at the field level.

The campaign is meant to cover all six regions of Bangladesh where partner NGOs are executing this program through CLC with support from UNESCO. As part of this campaign BCCP organized a capacity building workshop on advocacy with program persons and trainers of six partner NGOs. Following this, a national advocacy workshop with policymakers was held in Dhaka. Five regional workshops with stakeholders followed in Jessore, Sylhet, Barisal, Thakurgaon and Chittagong. In all, twenty-four advocacy meetings were conducted in the five regions in each of which trained volunteers addressed illiterate girls and women living close to CLCs. BCCP resource persons assisted them in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating their advocacy activities. BCCP also helped develop advocacy guidelines and local level advocacy toolkit for them and assisted the field level volunteers to address the adult illiterate women close to the Learning Centers.

Development of Advocacy Materials
Under this intervention BCCP developed a set of advocacy materials as supporting tools for the partner NGOs. The materials were developed based on recommendations and inputs of the representatives of partner NGOs and in close consultation with the focal persons of UNESCO. The materials include Policy Level Advocacy Guidelines, Local Level Advocacy Guidelines and Local Level Advocacy Folder with a set of Flash Cards, a Leaflet, and a Guideline on use of advocacy material. BCCP followed the “A” Frame for Advocacy as a strategic guide for development of these advocacy materials and as a part of this development process the materials were pre- tested following the standard rules.

 Output
The outputs of this intervention are as follows:

• Program managers from UNESCO partner NGOs participated in “Capacity Development workshop on Advocacy for Adult Literacy”.
• A set of Advocacy Materials as supportive tools for the partner NGOs were developed.
• National and regional level advocacy workshops were organized with the key policymakers and stakeholders on needs and importance literacy.
• A total of 600 volunteers were oriented on organizing Local Level Advocacy events for adult literacy in the community (especially in rural areas).
• A total of 5,709 rural illiterate adult women and adolescents girls were sensitized through local level advocacy events on the needs and importance literacy.

Adult literacy- Some positive indications

• The stakeholders in different sectors are very much positive and take proactive role in formulating advocacy programs for adult literacy.
• Most of the key policymakers recommended formulating a strategic plan for EFA and take individual as well as national level initiative.
• The volunteers and CMC members considered the advocacy orientations as helpful events for them because through these initiatives they will receive a guideline to plan and implement local level advocacy event

Recommendation

• Form an “Advocacy Forum” for adult literacy at central level with network at regional level that act as governing body.

• A nationwide advocacy program/campaign (through multi-channel & multi-prong approaches) to create mass awareness along with target specific intervention with local level initiatives.

• A number of advocacy materials both print and electronic need to be develop as supporting tool to address the audience at different level. 

• Continuous advocacy at policy level for multi-sectoral involvement to expedite the adult literacy and collaboration of GO-NGO to build up resource and facilities for adult literacy.

• Build up the capacity of different implementing organizations to do effective advocacy on adult literacy to create a momentum as well as follow a model to establish different avenue for adult literacy considering local needs and highlight the socio-economic development of the beneficiaries.

• Advocacy to give priority on adult literacy in all development programs and to give emphasis on relating literacy with the socio-economic development of the country.