How Collaboratives set advocacy priorities and agendas
This section breaks down our approach to advocacy into different steps or sub-components. Not every aspect may be needed in all situations or contexts.
Landscaping
"We prioritize evidence over assumptions, grounding every intervention in a clear understanding of context, systems, and those most affected." - TAAC Founders
Effective advocacy begins with understanding — not assumptions. TAAC starts every initiative with a rigorous landscaping process to ensure our strategies are grounded in context and evidence. This includes reviewing national policies, health strategies, decision-making structures, and pathways to influence. We also examine the health issue at hand, who it affects, and the most up-to-date global guidance on how to address it. This approach ensures that our work is informed, relevant, and responsive to local realities.
Advocating for policies that reflect people’s real needs
Even the best-resourced health systems can fall short if they fail to address social determinants, ignore the needs of specific groups, or overlook how people actually experience the health system. TAAC has seen how fragmented civil society efforts, though well-intentioned, can overwhelm decision-makers, create confusion, and dilute impact.
To overcome this, TAAC uses proven tools and facilitation methods to help civil society validate evidence, build consensus on priorities, and align around unified advocacy goals. Together, we co-develop action plans with clearly defined roles, enabling coordinated, strategic engagement with policymakers and better outcomes for communities.
Using data to drive smarter advocacy
Data is a powerful tool—but too often, both civil society and government actors struggle to use it effectively in decision-making. TAAC supports Collaboratives with practical, ongoing technical assistance to strengthen data literacy and application.
Through co-creation, we help partners collect, digest, and interpret available data to inform their advocacy strategies and engagement materials. For engaging decision-makers, they may develop concise, evidence-based policy briefs that unpack key health issues and highlight actionable solutions. In many cases, decision-makers themselves engage in this process—filling knowledge gaps and deepening shared understanding between civil society and government.
Financing policies so they can be implemented
Too often, health policies are developed without the resources needed to implement them—leaving good ideas stuck on paper. TAAC helps ensure that advocacy doesn't stop at policy adoption. From the start, we work with civil society and government partners to understand budgeting processes, identify funding gaps, and engage financing stakeholders.
Whether supporting the design of new policies or helping implement existing ones, TAAC facilitates costing and resource mobilization efforts that connect plans to budgets—unlocking action and accountability.
See also Accountability for Stewardship of policy and/or strategy implementation and resourcing
Principles
When working with country Collaboratives, TAAC promotes the following principles:
- Employ SMART strategies to drive reforms
- Focus attention and action on sustainable financing, data use and joint accountability
- Use evidence to drive strategies and action