To build the capacity of girls and young women in the field of advocacy and lobbying at the local and regional levels, in addition to developing advocacy strategies on many issues, the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), in cooperation with Terre des Hommes, held a training during November and December 2024 for 60 participants within the She Leads program in Egypt (Assiut and Cairo) and Jordan.

During the second phase of the She Leads program, ARDD focused on preparing women leaders at the regional level to become influential voices in advocating for their local issues, enhancing their knowledge and skills about advocacy areas, and how to effectively launch advocacy campaigns on the ground, as the program will also provide a platform for dialogue, learning, and innovation to address key issues related to leadership and civic engagement for women.

The program trained participants between the ages of (18-24 years), in cooperation with strategic partners at the regional and local levels, namely: "Giving Without Borders Association (Assiut), which aims to achieve sustainable development with the participation of the community in the planning and implementation of programs, and The Association of Egyptian Female Lawyers (Cairo), known for its leading role in empowering women and defending their rights, The Jordanian National Commission for Women (Amman, Jordan), which aims  to advance women through awareness and training in the political, legislative, health, economic, and environmental fields.

The training presented by expert in advocacy and training, Imad Abu Saleh, sought to promote the idea of women's effective participation in public life, contribute to building the capacity of women and girls to strategically plan advocacy campaigns and/or awareness campaigns related to a specific human rights problem or issue related to the reality of women, as well as equip them with the necessary skills to build Community initiatives aimed at contributing to solving the problems and challenges facing the community.

The trainings focused on several topics, such as an introduction to the concept of lobbying, SWOT analysis, dealing with decision-makers, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the concept of public policies, building alliances and coalitions, how to attract support and funding, in addition to introducing the concept of mobilization and its importance, building a media and communication plan, and the challenges/risks that campaigns may face.

Regarding what she gained from the training, participant Amira Muhaisen (from Assiut Governorate) said: "At first, I did not know what the meaning of advocacy campaigns was, nor did I know the steps that accompanied these campaigns, but this training made me more aware of these concepts and gave me a better understanding of them. Today, I apply what I’ve learned in my life, and my confidence in myself has increased. It really gave me a new, beautiful, and positively impactful experience."

Participant Mennatullah Ahmed, who is also from Assiut, explained that she learned several things from the training, including: "the ability to communicate effectively between team members or between the coach and the public; planning and how to implement campaigns and develop strategic planning skills and necessary tools, such as events, seminars, conferences, and workshops; potential risk and how to determine their probability, the extent of their impact on the campaign, and how to deal with them should they occur."

For her part, participant Menna Nabil (from Cairo) saw that “this training was enriching, as I learned about  the difference between a human rights-based approach and a care-based and needs-based approach, the difference between stakeholders and decision-makers, awareness and lobbying campaigns, and finally the point related to legislation related to the creating, repealing, amending, implementing, or activating legislation. More importantly, it taught me to do more in-depth analysis, because frankly, I lack the virtue of  patience and accuracy on this particular point."

Meanwhile, Jordanian participant Raneem Al-Arini believes that this opportunity "was not just a training, but a turning point to support women to become leaders and be able to achieve positive change. Thank you to the team for this great effort and interest in developing future women leaders, and I am excited to apply what I have learned."

Jordanian lawyer Rania Al-Soqour said, "Honestly, it was one of the most beautiful and enjoyable trainings, I gained a lot from it and learned how to identify the problem and the target group, plan, analyze, identify the causes, and work to propose solutions to reduce it. It changed the way I think, and when I started proposing any solution to a problem, I needed to clarify the goals and conduct a clear study to identify the potential risks, all under a chronological and intellectual sequence."

The "She Leads" program aims to support fair representation between men and women to participate more in decision-making processes, through capacity building activities that focus on increasing girls' and women's access to education and skills development, promoting women's economic empowerment, and engaging them in the political process, in addition to building advocacy skills, meaningful interaction, and raising awareness, through a collaborative and inclusive approach at the regional and international levels.