Country Profile: India

Second Regional Alliance Training in 2018

21 Partcipants from 7 Countries

A Regional Alliance Advocates training - Asia

The Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety (also known as 'The Alliance') received a generous grant from FedEx to help further develop the capacity of the 200+ Alliance members (reached in 2017) in 90 countries.

The Alliance created the 'Alliance Empowerment Program', an overarching program that has the aim to work with NGO leaders to improve their effectiveness and impact. Members of the Alliance identified several key areas for development that would help them in their road safety missions on the ground. This was realized through an Alliance wide 'Learning Needs Assessment' in which members reviewed the skills they need to make real lasting change in road safety. In response to a clear capacity development need, the Alliance developed supportive programs under the banner of the Empowerment Program. These include: The Alliance Academy: which offers trainings such as online we3binars and in-person training workshops.

The Alliance Advocates: is an initiative that results from the Alliance Academy. The overall aim is to increase the quality of work that Alliance member NGOs implement. It builds on key skills such as planning, identify funding, implementing and evaluating effective advocacy activities, press attention, legislative change and more. In 2018, the Alliance took the decision to focus on a Regional Training which would enable NGOs to work on practical ideas. The second regional training took place in New Delhi, India representing the Asian region.

We (YOURS), were called in to further develop the training curriculum based on our training experience. The curriculum was developed through consultations with the Alliance and this time partnered with the International Road Assessments Programme (iRAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The training offered 20 Asian NGO leaders a practical insight into advocacy with a particular focus on safe school zones. The group benefited from using iRAP's Star Ratings for Schools App as NGOs to pilot this new innovative tool to improve crucial infrastructure around schools to enable a safe journey for children.

We used our track record in workshop delivery to help design, develop and implement the training. Manpreet Darroch conducted the training alongside Patrick Kinyanjui of the Global Alliance, Jigesh Bhavsar and Albin Tharakan of iRAP India and with support Rebecca Ashton from the FIA Foundation.

A key focus of the regional training was to ensure practical actions could be taken when advocates return to their respective countries. During the training, the Advocates went into the field to assess a real school zone and score the infrastructure. This practical in-field excercise enabled the group to get acquainted with the Star Rating for Schools application and principles. Advocates were able to see where safe infrastructure lacked. They used this approach to prepare advocacy missions around safe school zones for their home countries with a focus on; using key data and evidence, talking with decision makers, strategic action planning and crafting compelling messaging for their advocacy missions.

"On the academic part I have learnt a lot which I shall be able implement in my ongoing as well the project committed. I got to understand the three elements of advocacy and realised that all these years was just working with two of the three elements only. Thank you so much the entire team for enhancing my skill and making me an Alliance Advocate".

Ravee S Ahluwalia

Patiala Foundation

Workshop delivery in India - Asian Region

Discover our work with the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, iRAP, FIA Foundation and FedEx.

Continuing our partnership with the Global Alliance...

The first class of 15 Alliance Advocates participated in an intensive training at the FedEx World Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee in August 2016, we continued our partnership with the Alliance in 2017 to deliver a second training of Global Advocates in the USA. In 2018, we worked with the Alliance to take the training regional focusing on world regions for the first time. The Alliance Advocate training program is one part of the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety’s capacity building initiative, the Alliance Empowerment Program.

The Empowerment Program includes three main components: Alliance Academy – offers trainings such as webinars and training workshops; the Alliance Seed Program which offers small grants to small evaluated and replicable road safety projects and the Alliance Mentorship Program – which pairs Alliance members with experienced organizations to grow them in a specific area.

We joined the project as consultants in workshop facilitation and worked with the Global Alliance of Road Safety NGOs and FedEx to develop a robust agenda to meet the needs of ambitious NGO leaders in road safety. In 2018 worked to tweak, develop and refine our training materials to be delivered at the 'Alliance Academy' through our interactive, brain-friendly yet engaging and informative style. This year we worked alongside the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to place a particular focus on Star Rating for Schools.

The Alliance Advocates were selected through a strict, competitive, bidding process from among member NGOs. The 20 chosen advocates each came different countries in the region and will become role models for other Alliance members, governments and their home communities.

‘Inspire and motivate Alliance Members in their region to become actively involved in contributing towards the road safety target mentioned in the Global Goals of halving road deaths and injuries by 2020 This will be done by further developing their knowledge and skills that they need to implement their own effective advocacy campaigns.’

Overall goal of the Alliance Advocates
“The Academy selected and trained 20 Alliance Advocates in the African Region who will push for and support action in promoting Safer School Zones. The Alliance Advocates will work together as a team to focus on specific deliverables and outcomes.”

The Alliance Advocates will:

Describe the importance of road safety data for your advocacy activities and be familiar with the global road safety best practices.
Collect data from school communities using the iRAP Star Rating for Schools Application and focus group discussions.
Analyse the collected data and prepare evidence for interventions to upgrade a high-risk school to a minimum of 3-stars.
Demonstrate key methods to get your advocacy message across and explain the three elements of advocacy.
Design a straightforward action plan for your advocacy activities on safer schools, including how you will monitor and evaluate your progress.
Explain the different ways to engage with decision-makers, which will allow you to reach your advocacy goals and generate commitment.

Road safety education reinvented for advocates...

Alliance Advocates underwent a comprehensive introduction to a range of topics designed to bolster and develop skills to take meaningful road safety action. Advocates were taken through a range of interactive sessions to stimulate group work and personal reflections.

Topics included:

Improving Road Safety Data and Evidence in the region
Collecting Data
Advocacy in Road Safety
Practical use of the Star Ratings for Schools app with iRAP
Road Safety Messaging
Strategic Planning for Advocacy Activities
Talking with Decision Makers
Getting your Message Across
Monitoring and Evaluation Skills
Action Planning

"They are not your conventional "sit back and listen " engagement".

"As a co-facilitator with Manpreet during the Asia Advocates training held in New Delhi recently, I had no doubt that I was in good and able hands to hold me as a teammate and colleague to deliver together an exemplary training to the participants. I have learnt a lot from the YOURS team whose facilitation techniques have been hailed as amazingly engaging. The training map is so well organized with content that might be familiar, but its presented like a brand new story! It has been a pleasure knowing and working with YOURS."

Patrick Kinyanjui

M&E and Program Manager - Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety

Results and Impact

A workshop is only as powerful as its impact and measurable results. Participants to the training became 'Alliance Advocates' on graduating from the Alliance Academy and the first for the African Region.

At the end of training, Advocates took the opportunity to evaluate the programme in its entirety as well as offer feedback on the content, delivery and impact. They were asked to rate the Alliance Advocate training course.

100% of participants said the training was successful in preparing them for advocacy for change upon their return. During the training, the advocate refined and built upon new skills required to make positive change for advocacy around school zones using the Star Rating for Schools application developed by iRAP.

Action to Follow...

The findings from the evaluation reports on a very successful training. There is an overall sense that the skills acquired at the training, will contribute to an increase in the quality of Alliance members work, and enable them to identify and implement relevant advocacy projects in their country for safer school zones. Alliance Advocates also made robust action plans to take their work forward in their countries. Regular updates and progress logs will be undertaken to track progress.

More information about the Alliance Empowerment Program can be found at the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety's website.

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