by Ivan Rosario, 2024 Intern for Communication and Advocacy
In line with Educo Philippines’ commitment to empowering communities through child-led initiatives, the organization recently held a “Training of Trainers for the Use of Child-led Advocacy and Project Management Toolkits” at Hotel Venezia in Legazpi, Albay. This project was divided into two parts, the Child-led Advocacy Training (CLAT) conducted last July 16 to 18, 2024, and the Child-led Project Management Training (CLPMT) implemented last July 24 to 26, 2024, respectively.
This 6-day training and workshops primarily aimed to capacitate duty-bearers composed of local government units, educators, and child representatives on how to effectively impart knowledge of child-led project management and advocacy within their respective communities. It seeks to empower participants with the process of facilitating and accomplishing the activities relating to these concepts, as well as to teach them how to effectively craft their own action and advocacy plans.
This brought together local government units (LGUs), LSWDO personnel, teachers, SSLG advisers, community volunteers, and child representatives coming from different municipalities in Bicol, including Pilar, Castilla, and Donsol in Sorsogon, Manito in Albay, and Caramoran in Catanduanes.
In her opening remarks, Gemma Castillo-Goliat, Country Director of Educo PH, highlighted the importance of children in decision-making processes, especially in building a child-led advocacy and project management plan, asserting that recognizing them as rights holders is crucial for a better future.
“They are not just children. Without them, there’s no tomorrow. They should be there, and a better way to ensure a very good or a promising future is to ensure that the children of today are able to create the tomorrow that we want to have,” Castillo-Goliat continued.
Stepping into the process of CLAT
With the goal of Educo PH to comprehensively spread the relevant ideas relating to making an effective and holistic advocacy plan, the organization divided the first part of the activity into a number of sessions and workshops, which became a pathway for the participants to immerse themselves in the step-by-step process of advocacy planning.
Day one focused on understanding child-led advocacy and building the advocacy team. It included sessions and workshops aimed at conceptualizing issues in the communities, building a vision that serves as a guide in addressing those issues, as well as identifying the right stakeholders.
On the other hand, the second day revolved around matters relating to more complex topics, including research, advocacy mapping, action planning, as well as risk reduction and management.
As they delve into the third day of CLAT, participants reflected their insights on the conducted sessions and workshops during the first and second day of the training.
“I have realized that the past activities and workshops are very helpful because we can’t get to the last step to complete the advocacy plan without stepping into the process of making it. So, we need to go through these different parts to complete this plan,” one rights holder from Caramoran stated.
In line with this, the last day of the activity also focused on the steps on how to manage the resources of advocacy as well as its implementation. During this day, the advocacy plans of each group of participants were already a few steps away from being completed.
Stepping into the process of CLPMT
Similar to CLAT, the CLPMT was also divided into different sessions and workshops aiming to prepare the participants in making their own child-led project management plan.
The first day of CLPMT revolved around understanding the concepts of project management, the process for making it child-led, as well as project initiation and planning.
This resumed on the second and third day of the training where the speakers discussed matters relating to the creation of evaluation plan, project monitoring and implementation, and concepts on its sustainability.
Apart from understanding the concepts discussed in the CLPMT, it also became an avenue for the participants to know how to facilitate the activities in the toolkits that will help and guide them in imparting it back to their own communities.
Empowering leaders; empowering minds
As part of the organization’s efforts in making this event possible, participants of CLAT and CLPMT also echoed its community impacts by sharing their learnings and reflections on these trainings.
“This training gave me a lot of confidence in myself. I am [now] capable of helping other kids when I go back to my community,” says Jillian Padilla, one of the rights holders from Manito, Albay.
Virgie C. Malagueño also highlighted the training’s impact on her as a teacher by sharing that “the event was so relevant and timely.” She gained a lot of new knowledge that will help her lead not only in school but in her community as well.
Apart from this, the activity also provided significant impacts to the field of governance, considering that it was also attended by various LGUs.
“This training is really beneficial for me as a barangay captain as it made me realize and reflect that creating and making advocacy that is focused on children is essential for better outcomes in the community. It made me more motivated to lead and make a change in our barangay,” shares Ariel Cha, barangay captain of Dancalan in Donsol.
Both CLAT and CLPMT concluded with the participants conducting a demonstration teaching to simulate learning from various sessions and to show their preparedness in imparting their knowledge back to their localities.
This effort is part of the goal of the organization for the participants to attain skills and confidence in rolling out the toolkits and the insights they learned to their communities. It also made them more empowered in the context of making advocacy and project management plans.
“Being part of this training is not only an opportunity to learn for ourselves. It is our responsibility to share these learnings back to where we came from,” Castillo-Goliat added.
By carrying out their child-led mission, Educo Philippines hopes that the seeds cultivated during these training sessions will eventually sprout, raising a generation of capable people who are prepared to lead and advocate for both their communities and themselves.
