An Affordable HIV Intervention: Because Women Are
Worth It - Serra
Sippel - President, Center for Health and Gender Equity
Thirty years into the AIDS epidemic, the global community has developed a
sense of solidarity and urgency to save lives. On International Women's Day, we
need to leverage that solidarity and urgency to help those who are most
affected -- women. Currently, half of those infected with HIV globally and 60
percent of those infected in sub-Saharan Africa are women. The same women who
are at risk of HIV infection are also at risk of unintended pregnancy. What
does the world have to offer women when it comes to prevention of HIV and
unintended pregnancy? 
Paper Doll Campaign!
ReplyDeleteZawadi Smartlove and her friends travel all over the world to tell people about the importance of the female condom. Zawadi is a paper doll, and there are thousands more like her. She is the heart of the Female Condom Paper Doll Campaign of the Universal Access to Female Condoms Joint Programme (UAFC). UAFC started in 2008 with the aim of making female condoms accessible, available and affordable to all. In 2011 UAFC worked with 40 partner organizations from all over the world on the Paper Doll Campaign. Because of its success, this campaign will be continued in 2012 and we would like to invite you to join us.
Paper Doll Campaign
The Paper Doll Campaign aims to combine advocacy efforts at local and global level with awareness-raising. Zawadi and her doll friends, Sookjay, Juan and Aurora, travel to countries all over the world to raise awareness of the importance of female condoms. People write their message on the dolls. These dolls are then collected into a long chain, representing the demand for female condoms. The strings of dolls , with their individual messages, show the powerful demand that exists for female condoms. People who write their message on a doll know that their message will be presented to both local and international leaders. In 2011, 6000 completed dolls were collected by 40 organizations in 22 countries. These dolls were showcased at several important occasions. This year, the collected dolls will stay in their own country where organizations can use them for their own advocacy activities. UAFC and Zawadi will also travel to the International AIDS Conference in Washington in July, where the dolls collected in 2011 will be showcased to 25.000 delegates from all over the world. We will also collect several thousand more dolls during the conference. Our goals is to collect over 30.000 dolls, thereby breaking the Guinness World Record, and reach hundreds of local or global policy makers.
Why join this campaign?
- You will contribute to a great cause, namely to make female condoms accessible, affordable and available for all.
- You will receive the dolls and associated supplies, such as pencils and splitpens free of change.
- UAFC staff is available to support you in your local advocacy efforts and can offer advice. UAFC will also spread word of your activities through our social media.
- You will regularly receive updates on the activities of other organizations, which can serve as an inspiration. UAFC will also provide you with information on current developments regarding female condoms.
- When advocating for female condoms with your local leaders, you can refer to the large worldwide demand as shown in the numbers of dolls that are collected.
- There is a small sum available (maximum of 100 euro’s) for less affluent organizations to organize an advocacy activity.
What is expected from you? UAFC expects you to organize one or more advocacy activities to persuade your local leaders to make female condoms accessible, affordable and available to everyone in your country. You are free to organize whatever kind of activity best suits your local context and UAFC is here to assist you. Since experience has taught that multiple organizations working together are most successful, you are encouraged to involve other organizations in your country in this campaign.