What is people-centre advocacy?

This paper provides an introduction to the concept of participatory or people-centred advocacy that emphasises the direct role marginalized groups must play if equitable power relations and advocacy victories are to be sustained. The author highlights the main differences between advocacy viewed as a systemic process of policy change, and advocacy understood as a process of social transformation. The paper identifies key elements of this approach that resonate throughout the case studies in this issue of PLA notes such as the role of a robust and culturally sensitive approach to communication and popular education; the importance of media advocacy; the need to build strong alliances and networks; and the pivotal issue of power relations.