Through this programme advocacy activities were funded, tackling the barriers to hospice and palliative care, in a wide range of countries.
World Hospice and Palliative Care Day
The advocacy activities were related to World Hospice and Palliative Care Day on Saturday 10 October 2009. The theme for World Day 2009 was ‘Discovering your voice’.
World Day happens annually usually in October and is a key opportunity to raise awareness of hospice and palliative care amongst policy makers and engage them with palliative care activities at a local, national and global level.
What was funded?
14 organisations received grants of 2,000 US dollars each to undertake advocacy activities in relation to world day 2009.
Details of the global advocacy grants made in 2009
Organisation
|
Title
|
Country |
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University
|
Building awareness on palliative care amongst the professionals, policy makers and the community
|
Bangladesh
|
| Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Cuidados Paliativos |
Listening to the voiceless |
Ecuador |
| Palliative Care Association 'Humanists' Union' |
Reception dedicated to World Hospice and Palliative Care day |
Georgia |
| Indian Association of Palliative Care |
Workshop on involving media in palliative care activities |
India |
| Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association |
Advocating for a palliative care policy |
Kenya |
| Palliative Care Association of Malawi |
World Hospice Palliative Care day regional events |
Malawi |
| Hospice Angelus Moldova |
Charitable concert and reception for the World Hospice and Palliative Care Day aiming to raise public awareness and to fundraise |
Moldova |
| The Shepherd's Hospice Sierra Leone |
Voices for Pain Relief 2009 |
Sierra Leone |
| African Palliative Care Association |
Palliative care advocacy in Lesotho: engaging policy makers as well as the public to support palliative care through media and a road show |
Lesotho |
| Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa |
World hospice and palliative care day and voices for hospices |
South Africa
|
| Palliative Care Association of Uganda |
Advocacy workshop for politicians |
Uganda |
| All-Ukrainian Association of palliative care |
Advocacy compaign on occasion of hospice and palliative care day 2009
|
Ukraine |
| Anticancer society of Uzbekistan |
Hospice and palliative care in Uzbekistan: to be or not to be? |
Uzbekistan |
| Hospice Association of Zimbabwe |
Increase public awareness about palliative care and advocate for increased skills training and development across all health care providers. |
Zimbabwe |
Advocacy can be defined as “seeking to influence policy makers to design, adopt, implement or change policies and practices.”
Therefore, advocacy is:
-
a process which can lead to change through influence
-
is a way of influencing public policy through information and communication
-
can act as a voice for those who do not have a voice
-
is a way of directing decision-makers towards a solution
-
can be used to inform influential groups and raise their awareness of specific issues.
What can advocacy achieve?
Advocacy has a vital role to play in demonstrating the effects of policies and ensuring appropriate policies exist to enable good palliative care is available to all who need it.
Therefore, advocacy can achieve:
-
increased resources for hospice and palliative care
-
changes in restrictive policies and practices within countries e.g. for morphine use
-
an increase in palliative care organisation’s profile amongst the public, potential funders, and influential groups
-
increased awareness of the reality of the grassroots situation and the specific problems faced by people and communities they serve.
Further information
Find out about the eligiblity criteria for the global advocacy grants. If you would like to know more please contact the grants team.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the support of the Open Society Institute who donated the funds for this programmme.
