The Advocacy and Media Department deals with a huge range of issues facing IWA members today. We represent the concerns of our members through policy development, campaigning, lobbying and highlighting issues through the media.

Although IWA has been involved in these activities since its inception, the term Advocacy is relatively new and sometimes generates very quizzical looks. So the question is, what is advocacy?

Advocacy is about representing and empowering people who are marginalised in society. In many ways, advocacy is all around us, although we have traditionally identified it in different ways.

Essentially, IWA was founded on the principles of advocacy. It was the coming together of people with shared interests and issues to create a group which could represent those issues. It was the pooling of resources, knowledge and experience in order to lobby the decision-makers who had the power to make things better for people with disabilities.

The growth of IWA over the last four decades has contributed to the changing and improving circumstances people with disabilities all over Ireland. This process is ongoing and is largely achieved through advocacy work at each and every layer of the organisation. In recent years, the IWA has developed an Advocacy Department. These pages outline the people involved and the main issues facing us at the moment.

If you have any queries about Advocacy services, or are experiencing difficulties arising from a disability, you could contact the Advocacy team at advocacy@iwa.ie