“Advocacy and Communication Tools” Training Session Held in Tunisia

July 7, 2012

Study after study has proved that, in order to be efficient, leaders and organizations fighting for a cause need technical skills in advocacy and communication.  Building advocacy efforts to affect the policies, positions or programs of any institution is one of the newest challenges facing CSOs.  Recognizing the truth in these statements, the Foundation for the Future’s Tunisian office held a training entitled “Advocacy and Communication Tools” in the northeastern city of Mahdia on the 23rd and 24th of June. 

For this training session, FFF targeted 20 emerging CSOs already engaged in advocacy and with real potential within their respective fields.  These CSOs focus on such topics as human rights and citizenship, the environment and sustainable development, media, and good governance.  All 20 have already received numerous trainings and most of them had also attended the previous FFF Tunisia session in April.The advocacy training also allowed organizations from different parts of the country to meet other CSOs working on similar issues and network.  Therefore, after the first day, CSOs exchanged knowledge by dividing into three working groups that focused on the struggle against corruption, promoting a culture of nonviolence, and enhancing the Chaambi nature reserve. 

After the training, the 20 association leaders in attendance plan to share their knowledge with other members of their association as well as strengthen the networks established at the meeting.  

The Foundation conducts a workshop on Non-Violence in Tunisia

May, 2012

The Foundation For the Future organized a training in Tunis from May 10th through 14th on the importance of spreading the message of non-violence in this time of social transition. Welcoming 26 participants from CSOs from all over Tunisia, the training was conducted in partnership with the Tunisian Cultivons la Paix and with the Lebanese non-violence expert and representative of the AUNOHR, Ogarit Youman. The workshop was met with great appreciation from the participants as well as with attention from the press, whose stories spread the debate beyond the conference halls.

FFF’s President, Ms. Hamza, gave a number of interviews to the Tunisian press, stressing the importance of resisting violence with the use of peaceful strikes, demonstrations, and civil disobedience. The workshop also emphasized the unfortunate omnipresence of violence in our societies, at the household level as well as at school and at work. This reality demands further efforts and reflection from all actors of the society to stem the tide of violence and promote a rich and stable environment for a post-revolution society to develop.

Ms. Hamza further acknowledged that religion and religious institutions are key actors in the spreading of tolerance and non-violence in the MENA region. Ms. Younan of the AUNOHR was pleased to note a large sector of Tunisian society feels that non-violence can help them achieve their goals. She further emphasized that if Tunisia remains on this non-violent path, it could lead the other countries in the region in escaping the vicious circle of violence.

Committed to spreading non-violence and tolerance in the region, FFF will undertake similar trainings in the coming year in different transitioning countries of the MENA region where CSOs have expressed strong interest in such learning opportunities.