Paper Doll Campaign continues in 2012
Global Campaigning for Female Condoms
In 2011 Zawadi Smartlove started her travels 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. After a highly successful year, the Paper Doll Campaign will continue in 2012, with Zawadi travelling to new countries and increasing advocacy efforts both at a local and a global level.
People from all over the world write down their message demanding female condoms on Zawadi paper dolls. These dolls are then collected and made into a long chain, representing the demand for female condoms. The strings of dolls send the powerful message that there is a great demand for female condoms, from people all over the world. Female condoms can help to solve two of the greatest challenges the world faces today: HIV/Aids and unintended pregnancy.
Local advocacy
The NGOs participating in the campaign use the paper dolls in their sensitization and awareness- raising meetings. The participants of such meetings can then have an active role by writing their message on a paper doll knowing that these messages will be presented to local as well as international leaders. The NGOs in the campaign use their locally collected dolls to advocate for female condoms with their local leaders and ask local leaders to write a commitment concerning female condoms on a doll. It also provides a good photo opportunity for the media as the dolls make a beautiful colorful chain.
In 2011, 40 NGOs from 22 countries participated in the campaign and collected over 6000 dolls in among others Cameroon, Costa Rica, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Rwanda, Thailand, United States of America, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. In 2012 even more organizations will participate and the paper dolls plan to travel to 40 countries to inform local policy makers on the demand for female condoms in their country. Organizations that would like to participate in this campaign can contact UAFC.
International advocacy
All 6000 dolls that were collected in 2011 will be showcased during the International Aids Conference this July in Washington. The 25.000 delegates present during the conference can sign their own doll which will be connected to the chain of dolls on the spot. This way a very powerful display showing the worldwide demand for female condoms will be seen by thousands of people active in the fight against HIV/Aids.
On and Zawadi will inform people worldwide on the campaign and the importance of female condoms.
