Equilibres & Populations Wins Award for Face to Face Campaign Poster
	Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson For FGM Waris Dirie Visits Senegal
	Face to Face Testimonies II
	IPPF Regional Office Moves to Brussels
	Campaign Management Ideas

For its Face to Face Campaign project, Equilibres & Populations (in cooperation with Population Concern) produced a poster comparing the lives of two young girls, one from the developing world and one from Western Europe. The poster depicts the opportunities and obstacles each young woman faces in her life. E&P's poster has been widely distributed and favorably received. This spring the poster won a prestigious award as one of the best advertisements for women's rights.

Each year in France, L'association des femmes journalistes (Association for Women Journalists) holds a contest for outstanding advertisements championing women's rights. E&P received special mention in the competition this year for its Face to Face Campaign poster. The award was given by the Ministry for the Arts of the French government. It was presented by Mrs. Catherine Trautmann to Sandra Batlle during a press conference attended by many media representatives. E&P plans to publicize this important award and attract even more attention to the Face to Face Campaign.

The National Assembly of Senegal and Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) sponsored the second annual Implementing the ICPD Agenda Workshop in Dakar, Senegal on April 19, 20, and 21. The workshop is an integral element of PGA's Pilot Population Programme in West Africa, a project initiated by Ghanaian and Senegalese legislators in 1994. Through this programme, PGA assists its members in Ghana and Senegal to build the capacity of the parliamentarian population committees and develop coordinated political strategies in West Africa.

The goal of this particular Workshop was to create an open forum for the Ghanaian and Senegalese parliamentarians to share and evaluate their lessons and achievements of the past five years with fellow parliamentarians, NGOs, multilateral institutions and other experts in the field.

Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of UNFPA, was a keynote speaker at the Workshop. Dr. Sadik reviewed the elements of the ICPD Agenda. She discussed the international consensus, as well as the problems and progress, or lack thereof, in the implementation of the ICPD goals. Dr. Sadik said, "ICPD was the first international conference to recommend action on FGM, and it is now on the global agenda and universally condemned. Fifteen countries have outlawed it and some, including Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Uganda, are successfully tackling the issue at the community level."

UNFPA and Waris Dirie, Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson for the Elimination of FGM, was also invited to address the ICPD Agenda Workshop. Waris told the story of her nomadic life in Somalia, her experience of FGM, and her fleeing to London to escape an early marriage. Waris matured believing that "helping people, especially small children, to not ruin more lives with FGM" was her purpose in life. "When I talk about FGM I am being me and I am talking from my heart."

While in Senegal, Waris made a point of meeting at length with Molly Melching and the staff of Tostan, an international NGO based in Senegal. Since its inception in 1991, Tostan has successfully implemented an innovative educational modules program in 350 villages throughout Senegal. Human rights education is a critical component of Tostan's program. The education that villagers, male and female, have received has been instrumental in decisions in 31 villages to end female genital cutting.

Waris visited such a village for the better part of a day. She presented a gold plaque with a saying from the Koran to the village elders. Waris spoke personally with many villagers, old and young, male and female, about her story and FGM. She talked at length with a village woman who had been a cutter for 18 years. The cutter recognized that, "I have been doing wrong all this time and I did not know." Waris and the cutter embraced in an important act of reconciliation.

The second session of Face to Face Testimonies was held in New York City at the March ICPF+5 review session. The Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA) joined UNFPA and IPPF in sponsoring Face to Face Testimonies II. The Testimonies featured individuals from developing countries discussing their work experiences in population, development and reproductive health care . . .

Aradhana Johri of SIFPSA in India believes its most successful programs are training programs for traditional birth attendants and Safe Delivery Centers and Integrated Health Camps in villages. These become focal points for a wide-range of health care services provided by visiting teams of medical personnel, including immunizations, health checkups, contraceptives, etc. Aradhana says, "I have hope. Women in my country are beginning to come together. They are beginning to be aware of their rights. They are beginning to demand their rights. They are coming forward to speak for themselves."

Akmed Neal of the FPA in Bangladesh knows that "women dream of a better life for themselves and their children; that cannot be achieved with unwanted pregnancies." Over the years, the fertility rate in Bangladesh has dropped dramatically from 6.5 to 3.2. "Family planning is no longer a public crime or a private sin."

Molly Melching of Tostan in Senegal described the human rights module of Tostan's education program that was introduced in 1996. Molly believes human rights education "has led to extraordinary things in the villages. People have learned their rights and used their rights and effectively convinced other villagers to create better lives for all." One of the major impacts has been the ending of female genital cutting in 31 villages through consensus, cooperation and public declarations.

The testimonies were moderated by Alex Marshall of UNFPA and Patricia Sears of CEDPA. The panel included Aradhana Johri of SIFPSA, India; Molly Melching of TOSTAN, Senegal; Salha Awad of ITRFP, Egypt; Antoine Agustine of MARCH, Haiti; Ana Tallada of INCAFAM-RNPM, Peru; Patrick Odin of ARFH, Nigeria; and Anna Markowska of the FPA of Poland.

In an unusual but important departure from the Testimonies format, Tony O'Brien, Chief Executive of the Irish Family Planning Association, addressed the Testimonies II audience on the recent violence at a family planning clinic in Dublin.

"All of the changes over 20 years in reproductive health policies and services in Ireland have been hard argued and politically fought over but without recourse to violence or extremism. In America, however, every day across the bridge in Brooklyn there are protesters who try to mix and mingle with women going into a family planning clinic. The clinic hires guards to protect the women going inside and a police officer to stand on the front doorstep.

"This is face to face. Three weeks ago at a family planning clinic in Dublin, I came face to face with American extremism. They don't limit themselves to America. They buy air tickets and come to our country.

"Forty members of an American group called the Christian Defense Coalition forced entry into a family planning clinic in Dublin. This clinic does not provide abortions, only government-funded pregnancy counseling services, including, if requested, addresses in Britain for other services. In groups the Coalition proceeded to interview staff members, forcing cameras into their faces to get photographs. They answered telephones saying no one could talk because everybody in the building was a murderer. After removal by the police, these protesters chased clinic personnel down Dublin's main street, surrounding taxis and forcing police to intervene.

"Nothing like this has ever happened before in Dublin; this has never happened in most other countries. In countries where progress is being made, there are people with a history of doing absolutely anything in order to impose their views on others.

"It is quite likely, I believe, that many more of us will suffer intimidation and threats like those that have altered America and those I witnessed in Dublin less than 3 weeks ago. "The reality is that those of us who have not come face to face with this before are not prepared. Our countries do not expect this kind of activity. We don't have systems in place to deal with it. I fear it is time for all of us to consult our authorities about having in place a response to this activity.

"Unfortunately, if you go to a family planning clinic in Dublin today, you will see uniformed police officers standing outside. That is not the way it should be. At the moment, this is the way it has to be. I hope that you don't have to come face to face with it. But if you do, I hope you are prepared."

Lynn Thomas, Regional Director, IPPF and Rupert Walder, Communications Officer, IPPF moved their offices from London to Brussels on April 16th. This new location will allow more effective and frequent communications with family planning associations in Europe. Brussels is also a good base for developing new relationships with other population and development organizations. The day-to-day projects that Ms.Thomas and Mr. Walder are involved with will not change, especially their interest and involvement in the Face to Face Campaign.

This column is devoted to ideas for managing the Face to Face Campaign. The issues addressed here range from using campaign volunteers and developing positive relationships with the media to budgeting. The information in this column is based on the Guide to Campaign Management by Coddington Management issued to campaign partners in June, 1998.

Role of Volunteers

An advocacy campaign like Face to Face can organize and utilize volunteers, both individuals and groups, so as to broaden its base and, therefore, broaden the reach and effectiveness of the campaign.

Appoint a Volunteer Coordinator with responsibility to determine specific volunteer activities and the skills and experience required. These volunteer activities can include clerical work in headquarters, public relations assistance, distributing campaign information, research, mass mailings, event ticket sales, setting up and assisting at events, etc.

Recruit volunteers by:

* appealing for volunteers at every campaign event;
* asking staff members for recommendations;
* contacting like-minded groups;
* contacting senior citizens groups, college and high school student groups;
* civic associations; health care associations.

Organize the volunteer force by keeping individual records, preparing weekly assignment sheets, indentifying those who can act as leaders, and creating telephone networks.

Manage the volunteers by giving prompt assignments, providing clear instructions, arranging training seesions, varying tasks frequently, providing good working conditions, and recognizing their contributions regularly.