Advisory Capacity development and Exchange (ACE)
Iag, Stories | August 19, 2024
The CBM Global Inclusion Advisory Group is working with key OPD partners to share knowledge and skills around the provision of technical advice. In doing so we will produce joint knowledge products to share with the wider sector and refine our own practices.
The Advisory Capacity development and Exchange (ACE) project enables the Inclusion Advisory Group (IAG) and Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) to share and learn from one another about what works well in inclusion advisory work. We’ll be working together to deepen our understanding of how to effectively influence mainstream development stakeholders – like UN agencies, governments and International NGOs – by providing tailored, rights-based inclusion advice.
“When PDF started out, we advocated about disability rights to everyone, we had to! Now, we’re in the process of going to the next step… providing clear advice and recommendations to our stakeholders on how to translate CRPD obligations into their own policies and practice.” Setareki Macanawai former CEO of the Pacific Disability Forum
The project has two main components:
1. Fellowship in South-East Asia
We are working with the International Disability Alliance to deliver a pilot fellowship program for disability activists from Philippines, Indonesia and Lao People’s Democratic Republic who want to engage more deeply in inclusion advisory work.
They will undertake a one-year learning journey to deepen their advisory skills. We’ll support these fellows through a range of methodologies over the course of a year, to maximise their impact as they support mainstream development stakeholders to translate disability inclusion commitments into practice. Fellows will:
- Participate in regular regional webinars
- Apply lessons in a national context
- Participate in peer exchange
- Have access to coaching and mentoring aligned with their individualised learning goals
- Learn on the job, conducting their own advisory work and working within advisory teams.
We look forward to also working with UNFPA on disability data within the project, and we thank UNFPA for linking and supporting ACE fellows and OPDs on critical disability data work in the region.
2. OPD capacity development in the Pacific
We are working with Pacific Disability Forum (PDF) to support Disability Movement leaders who influence development stakeholders and governments daily. We’ll work together to combine our collective knowledge and skills and look at how to streamline and optimise how to communicate inclusion advice to a range of stakeholders.
Together with PDF, we will provide coaching and mentoring, facilitate peer exchange and provide practical writing support to OPD leaders to support them in their work. We will also pool collective experience and expertise into common resources to support OPD leaders to respond to the large volume of requests for input that they receive.
The ACE project is funded by CBM Australia and Equity Trustees.
For more information
If you would like to know more about the ACE project, please contact Briana.Wilson@cbm-global.org
https://www.cbm.org.au/stories/advisory-capacity-development-and-exchange-ace