EFA’s Capacity Building Program runs since 2014 to transfer knowledge between Members facing limited resources, information and tools. In 2019, we rolled out a programmed that mixed online training and face-to-face meetings.
Training webinars accessible 24/7
Throughout the year, we organised four webinars to strenghent the capacity of our Members to #ShowLeadership at national level. The webinars touched upon the use of social media for advocacy purposes, the role of patient organisations in collecting and sharing patients’ data for research, how to boost messages during international awareness days and how to fulfil the criteria for representativeness, governance, transparency, democracy for being part of a European network.
Up to 31 national advocates participated in the knowledge-transfer webinars that were recorded and shared with EFA Members for offline consultation. With 91% of participants declaring their training expectations were met, the recordings will be hosted in the future EFA mentorship platform, together with all capacity building material developed in the last six years.
Capacity building for beginners: Georgia
In July, EFA organised a meeting with a group of 13 patients in Tbilisi, Georgia, who recently established the Asthma and Allergy Patients Association of Georgia , the first patient organisation on respiratory diseases and allergy. We organised a training on fundraising and advocacy. We were very happy to share our experience on activities to kick off associations effectively and to discuss with external participants about the current situation for patients in Georgia and how to collaborate at the national level. The Georgian colleagues were happy with the capacity building session too, declaring a 100% overall satisfaction with meeting.
Meet and Greet the EU training on patient evidence
In 2019 we organised the Meet & Greet the EU training in Strasbourg, in connection with the #ShowLeadership event we held at the European Parliament in November. With a focus on evidence-based advocacy to build on the results of the Active Patients ACCESS Care results, EFA Members from seven countries learnt from experienced experts how to gather strong evidence and make use of it for advocacy. In a practical workshop, participants were trained on how to develop their own, tailored evidence-based advocacy plans. The training concluded with a guided visit in the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
