Campaign News Briefs
	Press Conference CGSO Trefpunt
	Press Conference 2 Federacíon de Planificación Familiar de España
	Campaign Management Ideas
	Special Section on The Hauge Forum
	How the Cairo Consensus Changed Venezuela by Gisela Diaz Michelana of Venezuela
	A Youth Parliament and "Geoguthism" Now by Oswald Warwick of Trinidad- Tobago

Face to Face Campaign partner Associazione Italiana Donne per lo Sviluppo (AIDOS) is running the advertisement pictured here featuring one of their Face to Face Campaign spokespersons, Deborah Compagnoni, the Olympic skier and internationally acclaimed athlete. Deborah debuted in the World Ski Cup races in 1987. She went on to win three gold medals at world ski championships in 1996 and 1997 and three gold medals at the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, Lillehammer and Nagano.

Deborah's athletic career was seriously interrupted by knee surgeries. Her courage and determination in overcoming the resulting physical disabilities made her Italy's "most popular woman of the year" in 1997, and keeps her one of the most popular persons in Italy.

This AIDOS Face to Face Campaign ad promotes awareness as it stimulates thinking about the dramatic differences between the lives of Deborah Compagnoni and an anonymous Afghan woman. This ad has appeared in important daily newspapers - la Stampa, Il Resto del Carlino, il Tempo, il Gazzettino, il Corriere dell'Umbria - as well as several popular magazines - Glamour, Gente, Noi donne, Airone, Case da Abitare, Silouette. In addition to the Italian print media, AIDOS is placing Face to Face Campaign broadcasting messages with 120 local radio stations, including four interviews of four minutes each with Deborah Compagnoni.

The advertisement is also a prominent feature of a traveling exhibition of color photos on the condition of women in Afghanistan that AIDOS has organized. The exhibition is shown at meetings and seminars on Face to Face Campaign issues in different Italian cities.

CGSO Trefpunt hosted a press conference on January 22, 1999 in Gent, Belgium to announce the appointment of Goedele Liekens as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and CGSO's Face to Face Campaign spokesperson for Belgium. Dirk Pyck of CGSO Trefpunt, Dr. Reginald Moreels, the Belgian State Secretary for Development Co-operation, Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the UNFPA, Alphonse McDonald of the UNFPA Geneva, and Walter Coddington, Face to Face Campaign Manager joined Goedele Liekens, on the panel that addressed the media representatives.

Ms. Liekens is a well-known media personality who is currently hosting "Goedele," an Ophra Winfrey-like television show on social and relationship issues. Ms. Liekens was a successful, practicing psychologist-sexologist. She has made the understanding and improvement of human sexuality and relationships the focus of her professional life. She has written a best-selling book, "69 Questions About Sex." She has created a series of self-help therapy videotapes with Dutch sexologist, Jelto Drenth, and has written extensively for women's magazines.

In her speech at the press conference, Ms. Liekens said, "In my radio and television programs and in the articles I write, I put a strong emphasis on the strength and power of women and the right of women to stand up for themselves, to say 'yes' or 'no' to whatever choice. Hundreds of millions of women on this planet don't have this right and that's bad."

Goedele welcomes her new responsibilities as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador. She plans to "cooperate actively, to meet the women I represent in their habitat, to use all the channels I have at my disposal to communicate my knowledge and experiences." Goedele is convinced her actions will raise "a greater awareness of issues among a broader public and among decision makers."

Ms. Liekens will make a Face to Face TV documentary, co-produced by the Face to Face Campaign and her production company, which compares her own pregnancy to the pregnancy of a woman in the developing world. Later in the year, Goedele will travel to developing countries as a member of the official government delegation with State Secretary Moreels. She intends to write articles and produce a video diary about the circumstances of women in developing countries.

Because of the timing of the press conference and its close proximity to meetings of European Parliamentarians and NGOs in preparation for the Cairo +5 meeting, the conference was also attended by several campaign partner representatives including Ingar Brueggeman, Director General of the IPPF, Vicky Claeys, IPPF Brussels, Tuen Visser, Rutgers Foundation, Ann Svensen, RFSU, and Bjarne Christensen of the Danish FPA.

Dr. Reginald Moreels, the Belgian State Secretary for Development Co-operation, spoke about government policies, programs and budgets favorable to "sustainable human development." Dr. Moreels discussed initiatives through the government program, "Reproductive Health Care in Crisis Areas," aimed at refugees and internally replaced persons. Dr. Moreels believes we "need not just better structures to close the gap between the rich and the poor." Most of all, he believes there is "a need for more solidarity. The commitment of Goedele Liekens and the Face to Face Campaign are concrete signs of this solidarity."

Federacíon de Planificación Familiar de España hosted a press conference on February 18th in Barcelona at the Collegi de Periodistes de Catalunya. On behalf of UNFPA and the Face to Face Campaign, Walter Coddington welcomed Xavier Sardà as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and FPFE's Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson for Spain.

Speakers at the press conference included Maria Jose Montero, FPFE program director; Isabel Serrano, FPFE Board Member and author; Eva Martinez, FPFE staff member; and Walter Coddington, Face to Face Campaign Manager. Ms. Montero and Ms. Martinez took the opportunity to address the gathering on the international interests of the Spanish FPA.

The conference room was packed with journalists and reporters from major Spanish television and radio broadcasting outlets as well as print media. Also covering the conference was Xavier's own TV production film crew. The television station that broadcasts Xavier's programs sent a second celebrity to interview Xavier and promote his appointment on her show.

Xavier Sardà is a widely-known radio and television presenter in Spain. He has worked closely for years with the National Radio of Spain. He has created popular Spanish television programs like "Children's Games" and "Martian Chronicles," a variety talk show.

In accepting his appointment as a UN Goodwill Ambassador and Face to Face Campaign spokesperson, Xavier spoke humbly but poignantly about his new role. He indicated he would work to make, as a regular part of his nightly television show, space for Face to Face Campaign-related facts and other timely and relevant information. Xavier also indicated he will travel to Latin America, accompanied by representatives of the UNFPA and the Spanish FPA, for the purpose of developing public service announcements, championing local family NGOs, and reporting back to the Spanish public his observations and call to action.

Later on the evening of the day of his appointment, Xavier Sardà opened his nightly television show with out-takes from the press conference. Broadcast on "Tele Cinco", Xavier's show reaches 2-4 million Spanish viewers.

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.

Working with Celebrities

Nationally and internationally known personalities have been very helpful in attracting media attention to the Face to Face Campaign. The process Coddington Management recommends for recruitment and engagement of celebrities is as follows.

Celebrity candidates are recommended by Face to Face Campaign partners. In private meetings, celebrity candidates are asked about their willingness to do one or more of the following:

* become a UN Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador;
* agree to be publicly associated with the Face to Face Campaign and its campaign partners vis-a-vis press conferences and media interviews;
* be briefed on the issues by a UN/media specialist and go on at least one fact-finding field trip;
* be featured in public service announcements or video news releases; and
* participate in at least one major national Face to Face Campaign event or program per year.

An international press conference is then held to announce their appointment as UNFPA Goodwill Ambassadors and Face to Face Campaign Spokespersons for their native countries.

Celebrities involved in charitable activities are not, as a rule, paid for their time. Travel and out-of-pocket expenses are paid for by the Campaign.

Issue advocacy is the focus of celebrity involvement in this Campaign. As issues are chosen, all parties work together to identify appropriate projects, events and campaign activities.

On February 8 - 12, 1999, The Hague Forum, organized by the United Nations Population Fund and hosted by the Government of The Netherlands, was held at The Netherlands Congress Centre. The Hague Forum was the formal occasion for representatives from 180 governments to review progress and identify priorities for further action in population and development based on the 1994 Programme of Action generated at the ICPD. The Hague Forum was part of ICPD+5, a series of review activities culminating in a Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, scheduled for June 30 - July 2, 1999.

Keynote speakers included the United States' First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, Tonga's Prime Minister Baron Vaea, Ghanaian First Lady Dr. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, El Salvador's First Lady Elizabeth Aguirre de Calderon Sol, and Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund.

One of the most popular side events was the Face to Face Testimonies, organized by the IPPF and sponsored by the Wallace Global Fund and the Face to Face Campaign. The Testimonies were a series of three, one-hour panel sessions featuring individuals from developing countries discussing their work experiences in population, development and reproductive health care. Three UN Population Fund Goodwill Ambassadors and Face to Face Campaign Spokespersons served as moderators for the panels: Mikko Kuustonen (Finland), Magenta Devine (United Kingdom), and Goedele Liekens (Belgium).

Geri Halliwell, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and Face to Face Campaign Spokesperson for the United Kingdom, sent this message to the young people participating in The Hague Conference. "I would like to congratulate all the young people taking part in the Youth Forum. I wish you well in your efforts in creating a platform of youth concerns for the UN General Assembly Special Session."

The following are excerpts from the statements of two of the participants on the Face to Face Testimonies panels.

Gisela Diaz Michelana is director of Venezuela's nationwide population and development network RedPob (Red de Poblacion). RedPob links 13 sexual and reproductive health organizations in Caracas with three other similar networks around the country.

Before Cairo in 1994, these groups worked separately and all of them focused almost exclusively on family planning. "Cairo was the voice that told us we could and should do something other than just family planning--we could pay attention to women's needs in many ways." Ms. Michelana said. "Too many NGOs work in family planning and there's no communication between them. If we coordinate we can maximize our resources and our impact."

The many organizations of RedPob now exchange information and make constant referrals among each other. Working together, the groups lobbied last year successfully for the passage of two laws: one gives adolescents access to family planning and reproductive health care, a right they did not have before; and the other law bars violence against women.

Michelana said that her group spends far too much time searching for funding. "We have to struggle so much to keep alive. And we have so much to do worldwide, without enough commitment from the governments. They sign things and then afterwards you don't see those priorities in their national plans."

Michelana is the first representative from an NGO ever to be included in the Venezuelan official delegation to an ICPD conference. She took advantage of the opportunity. "One of the delegates was very new to this issue and it is an chance to open his mind and put sexual and reproductive health on his agenda. He was very open to us."

Young people in Trinidad-Tobago may soon have their own official parliament with authority to initiate legislation. This comes in part through the work of a young activist, Oswald "Ozzie" Warwick, 24, who is the founder of Unigem, Trinidad-Tobago's most powerful youth organization.

"We want to create a Youth Parliament that will actually create laws relating to young people." Unigem spearheaded demonstrations, parades and other lobbying activities last year that led to the drafting of legislation for such a parliament. It would have the right to propose resolutions and legislation directly to Trinidad-Tobago's Cabinet, which submits government-backed legislation for parliamentary approval. Debate on a Youth Parliament is expected to begin soon.

At age 24, Warwick is also a proponent of "geoguthism," a philosophy he named after the Old English word "geoguth" or "youth." "It's a belief that equal participation for youth in decisionmaking will bring about social, economic and political unity worldwide," Mr. Warwick said. His group propounds this view at schools and youth groups and organizes activities to promote it, including Youth Sexuality Forums that draw widely from Trinidad-Tobago schools.

Warwick saw The Hague Conference as a "good opportunity to remind countries what they promised. Young people's right to information and education is taken for granted by those in authority, but tradition, religion, culture and political barriers sometimes get in the way. They haven't done enough to make it easier; instead you get lip service. But this forum shouldn't be another big show. We want something concrete, some programs and initiatives that meet the goals."

Warwick noted that "7,000 young people are infected with HIV/AIDS every day. One-and-one-half million children under 15 already live with AIDS. Unless nations fulfill the commitment they made in Cairo, all of them will be dead by ICPD +10."