Open Call for Advocacy Mentorship Programme 2024

Dear Guiders and Guides,

Are YOU passionate about sustainability? Do YOU want to make a positive change in your community? If so, join our Advocacy Mentorship Programme 2024!

This is a programme for both Guides and Young Adults to work in teams of three or four to design and execute an original advocacy project. This project should be related to one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• SDG 3: Good Health and Wellbeing
• SDG 5: Gender Equality
• SDG 10: Reducing Inequalities
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities And Communities*
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption And Production*
• SDG 13: Climate Action

Please clinic on this  link for more details on what each relevant SDG entails.

*SDG 11 & 12 are added in accordance to the WTD 2024 theme.

Each team will be paired up with an External Mentor who has substantial experience and knowledge advocating for the chosen SDG. The External Mentor will provide project guidance and feedback to develop the group’s project management and advocacy skills.

Advocacy is not simply raising awareness of an issue; it involves mobilizing collective action to promote changes in policy, practices, or laws. Advocacy should ultimately identify and target one or more decisionmaker(s) (e.g., school principal, community leaders, Member of Parliament, or businesses leaders). To learn more about advocacy, access the WAGGGS toolkit here.

Duration of Project

• Teams have a runway from April to December 2024 to start and complete their projects.
• All projects must be completed within six working months (e.g. 1 April to 1 October 2024, or 1 June to 1 December 2024). Progress shall be tracked in detail by the group.
• Within this six-month period, the team must complete their advocacy project and accumulate at least 10 hours of execution time.
  • ‘Execution’ does not include planning time and refers to any action of creation or advocacy (e.g., pitching to decision-maker, making banners, setting up and running social media campaigns, giving speeches, etc.).

There will be an Opening Meeting at Guide House on 16 March 2024 from 2pm – 3.30pm. As has been the case in previous years, the official closing of the programme will be marked by World Thinking Day 2025. However, apart from these two events, the dates and times of group meetings and activities will be decided by the group in consultation with their External Mentor.

At the end of the project, each group will have to submit the following:

• A project portfolio, which includes photographs and individual group members’ reflections.
• All activities during the project period
• Corresponding time spent on each activity,

More details will be provided to selected groups.

Each group shall select a group leader. The group leader shall submit her group’s application, after discussion with her teammates on the project proposal, to this link. Throughout the project, the group leader shall be responsible for communicating with GGS HQ and the group’s External Mentor.

There is no limit to the number of applications a school can submit. Should you wish to develop an existing project that had been created by guides from your school, your proposal should clearly state the new, substantial elements of the project that you wish to embark on; it cannot be a mere repetition of what has been done before.

Applications will close on 24 February 2024, Saturday. Confirmation of final teams will be announced by 8 March 2024, Friday

If you have any queries or concerns, please email Jasmine at jasmine@girlguides.org.sg.

Thank you!

Sincerely, 

Ms Selene Tanne
Special Projects Commissioner