Speaking out : a toolkit for MSM-led HIV & AIDS advocacy

J. Ripley, K. Lauer

This global edition toolkit is designed for men who have sex with men (MSM) and MSM supporters who would like to incorporate MSM-related advocacy into their current work. Advocacy is defined here as speaking up, drawing a community's attention to an important issue, and directing decision makers toward a solution. The toolkit is like a cookbook, offering a range of recipes for action that orient participants to core concepts with ideas for building advocacy campaigns wherever they are. It is divided into 3 main sections: (A) an overview of advocacy; (B) a group of 5 topic areas that serve as potential advocacy foci, namely investment, services, stigma and discrimination, research, and civil society and networks; and finally (C) 2 chapters with a special focus on working with international human rights mechanisms and working in hostile environments. Each chapter is followed by a list of related resources in the event that groups would like to pursue the topic in more depth. In addition, there is also a set of annotations for the step-by-step advocacy skill cards found in The HIV/AIDS Alliance's Advocacy in Action1 toolkit, presenting each advocacy skill in light of MSM-specific concerns and challenges.