Call for applications: Training Seminar on EU Advocacy
27
and 28 October 2022 in Brussels, Belgium

Are you actively engaged in advocating for refugee rights? Are you a refugee advocate or working in a refugee-led organisation? Are you interested in deepening and broadening your knowledge about advocacy on EU asylum policy and law?

The European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) are organizing a two-day (in-person) training seminar on EU advocacy. Preference for participation will be given to people with a refugee background, representatives of refugee-led organizations, and refugee advocates (self defined) based in Europe.

Objectives and content:

  • Provide an introduction to EU advocacy on asylum and related migration issues
  • Introduce participants to EU policy-making and the role of the main EU institutions and actors working on EU asylum law and policy (with some reference to wider migration issues where relevant)
  • Provide an overview of the role of the EU in asylum policy and politics both inside Europe and in its external relations
  • Illustrate how EU policy can be influenced with reference to advocacy tactics and tools and through use of a case study

The seminar will include sessions that cover the following issues:

  • Developing advocacy skills and strategies
  • Introduction to EU policy making
  • Role and responsibilities of EU institutions and agencies working on asylum and migration
  • Basic introduction to the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) with reference to the Pact on Migration and Asylum and the concept of instrumentalization
  • Exchange with policy-makers and with NGOs working on advocacy at the EU level.

Participants:

A maximum of 25 people will be able to participate. In case there is more interest than places available, we will select participants based on information provided in the application form, looking at previous advocacy experience, plans to influence at the EU level, and geographic representation.

Application and registration:

If you would like to participate, please fill in the application form by Sunday, 28 August 2022. We should be able to confirm your participation by Friday, 9 September 2022.

Logistics:

We will cover travel and accommodation expenses related to participation in the training. Participants will need to arrive in Brussels on Wednesday, 26 October, return travel will take place on Friday, 28 October from late afternoon onwards.

We will provide more information once your participation is confirmed.