Paper Doll Campaign highly successful

Global Campaigning for Female Condoms

In 2011 Zawadi Smartlove traveled 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. The campaign aims to combine awareness-raising in different countries and advocacy efforts at national and United Nations level. The campaign will continue in 2012.

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 worldwide 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 awareness raising

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 later on. The Paper Doll Campaign had 40 NGOs in 2011 participating in for instance Argentina, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Kenya, Liberia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Thailand, United States of America, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. These organizations will continue to participate in 2012.

Local advocacy

In 2011, once an NGO has gathered 50 messages or more, they were sent back to the Netherlands, from where the campaign is organized. However, before the dolls were sent back, they were made into a chain and a ‘fare-well party’ was organized with local stakeholders, politicians and the media. This provided an advocacy moment and an opportunity to ask local leaders to write a commitment concerning female condoms on a doll. It also provided a good photo opportunity for the media as the dolls make a beautiful colorful chain.

International advocacy

An initial collection of 400 Zawadi paper dolls from over 20 countries were presented at the United Nations High Level Meeting on HIV/Aids in New York in June 2011. This collection was used to bring the demand for female condoms to the attention of world leaders. The complete collection of dolls, comprising of more than 6,000 from over 20 countries was presented at the ‘Prevention, Pleasure and Protection’ International Conference on Female Condoms in The Netherlands in November 2011.

At the House of Parliament, an event was organized where the Paper Dolls were presented to the Dutch politicians and others.

Dutch parliamentarian Kathleen Ferrier at a female condom

event in New York

Examples of local advocacy in the Paper Doll Campaign

ACORD/Oxfam

Rwanda

ACORD group with the paper dolls

Acord organized female condom education sessions (using the Paper Doll Campaign as the occasion) with rural community leaders. Acord also integrated advocacy for FCs into ACORD’s on-going programming on HIV/AIDS in the workplace. ACORD’s work with SIPETRA, an organization serving street children exposed to HIV and unwanted pregnancies, generated some powerful messages on the dolls that can be use in advocacy as illustrations of the urgent need for female condoms. For example the message: “The female condom could help me when I’m still alive, it could help me to protect me from HIV and unwanted pregnancy”. This message was written by a 15 year old girl living on the street and frequently engaging in survival sex.

SafeGuards LGBT Health Project

U.S.A.

In 2011, the city of Philadelphia launched a city-branded condom promotion project (like New York City’s successful NYC condom campaign). The SafeGuards LGBT Health Project has been vigorously advocating for the inclusion of female condoms in the city-wide campaign. The Philadelphia Health Commissioner said he hadn’t even considered this possibility before SafeGuards raised it – but information about the use of the female condom is now available on the campaign’s website and free female condoms can be picked up from two city Health Centers.

Health and Opportunity Network (HON)

Thailand

Participantof of paper doll event organized by HON

The Health and Opportunity Network organized a paper doll event to bring the demand for female condoms to the attention of the Mayor. Mr.Itthiphol Kunpuome, mayor of Pattaya City, wrote a message on a paper doll expressing his support for female condoms.

MUSAS

Venezuela

MUSAS with their paper dolls

MUSAS made a full-page statement in nationally circulated print media about the importance of the national government implementing a program of access to female condoms and other actions. The coordinator of MUSAS also discussed the Paper Doll Campaign and the female condom on a live television program. Photos of this are posted on Zawadi Smartlove’s Facebook page.

MUSAS made a full-page statement in nationally circulated print media about the importance of the national government implementing a program of access to female condoms and other actions.

Positive Women Inc. and the YWCA of Aotearoa
New Zealand

Positive Women Inc. and the YWCA of Aotearoa New Zealand have joined the International Paper Doll Campaign together with 40 other partners around the world to raise awareness of female condoms.

“We don’t expect the female condom to become the most popular contraception option in New Zealand however we believe it is important to promote choices and raise awareness of the need to promote greater investment by governments in the female condom. The International Paper Doll campaign has been a great way to do this” says Sarah Davies of the YWCA.

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