This FORUT Civil Society Impact Series publication captures lessons and best practices from the proceedings of the Alcohol, Drugs, and Development (ADD) Community of Practice (COP) webinar held on 27 August 2025 entitled “Lessons from the successes of alcohol policy advocacy in Southern and West Africa.” The webinar aimed to strengthen collaborations, build the capacity of regional alliances, and to promote knowledge sharing on alcohol policy and legislation development and implementation. With various civil society organizations from West and Southern Africa having successfully pushed for meaningful alcohol policy reforms, the webinar highlighted key insights and lessons learned from their advocacy efforts, highlighting effective strategies that have made a difference in their regions.
Shadow reporting is a useful tool for alcohol policy advocacy. Shadow reports can be linked to the monitoring and reporting process for the implementation of national alcohol policies, national alcohol laws, the Global Strategy to Reduce the Harmful Use of Alcohol, the SAFER Initiative, and, more recently, the Global Alcohol Action Plan. Adequate planning and preparation for shadow reporting is thus necessary for civil society organisations that will be working collaboratively on producing a shadow report.
It includes best practices and lessons learned from regional and national alcohol policy alliances involved in drafting national shadow reports.
Recommended citation:
Agboado, D., Ali, I., Amul, G., Jalloh, A., Jalloh, B-J., Milanzie, J., Mlumbe, T., Ngulube, J., Richards, R.T., Usman, L. (2026). Best Practices for Alcohol Policy Advocacy: The Role of National Alcohol Policy Alliances and Shadow Reporting. FORUT Civil Society Impact Series. Gjøvik, Norway: FORUT.