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NORRAG meeting in Bamako, December 14th 2009
Advocacy in education: meaning, stakeholders and tools
Meeting organized by NORRAG in collaboration with ERNWACA
Bamako, Hôtel Azalaï Nord Sud
14 December 2009
More and more, research institutions must be able to show the impact of research on policies. In the framework of a management model that gives a predominant role to results and impact, advocacy and political impact become measures of research efficiency. This meeting constitutes a space for reflection and discussion on the notion and practices of advocacy. It will gather different education stakeholders in Mali and in the region: ERNWACA researchers, NORRAG members, policy-makers, international cooperation agencies and civil society.
First, the origin and senses of the notion of advocacy will be analyzed. Second, links between research and policy decision will be questioned: what are the demands of the different stakeholders concerning research? Which are the roles and uses of research in relation to advocacy and policy decision? What is the place of the researchers? What is researchers’ autonomy in relation to other stakeholders? How to conciliate scientific “neutrality” and the political commitment supposed by the implication in advocacy? Which are the conditions of dialogue between researchers and policy makers? Third, different advocacy tools will be identified and discussed.
NORRAG deals with international policies in education and training. It collaborates with ERNWACA in West and Central Africa as well as with RedEtis in Latin America, and gathers about 2500 members worldwide. Its main activities are the publication of NORRAG News twice a year, which is also translated in French, and of "policy briefs" that synthesizes the content of each issue of NORRAG News and are translated in five languages. NORRAG also organizes clusters meetings such as the Bamako meeting, which aim at anchoring the reflections of NORRAG at the national level. NORRAG is financed by the Swiss Cooperation, DFID and NUFFIC and its coordination is based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID). NORRAG’s publications and further information are available on the Website: www.norrag.org
Advocacy is one of NORRAG’s objectives. Indeed, this network aims to influence policy decision. NORRAG promotes a diversity of perspectives, including critical perspectives, on international education and training policies. This is both a geographical diversity, by calling for contributions from different regions, and a stakeholders diversity (researchers, policy makers both at the national level and in agencies, NGOs, etc.)