Paper Doll Event in Dutch Parliament
At the Paper Doll Event on November 16, 1500 messages demanding female condoms from all over the world were on display at the Dutch parliament. These messages were written on Paper Dolls by women and men and collected by 40 organizations in 20 different countries. They formed the decor of an event to show the demand for female condoms. This collection is part of more than 5000 Paper Dolls that have been collected. The main paper doll is called Zawadi – her name means ‘gift’ in Swahili. Please join the Paper Doll campaign by befriending Zawadi Smartlove on facebook and following @ZawadiSmartlove on twitter!
The Paper Doll event was hosted by the Dutch Multi Party Initiative on HIV/Aids and SRHR. Four Members of Parliament acted in this event, all are committed to the female condom as an important tool in the prevention of HIV and unplanned pregnancies.
Ewout Irrgang, (Socialist Party) opened the event.
Kathleen Ferrier (Christian Democrats) emphasized the fact that 215 million women have an unmet need to protect themselves against unplanned pregnancies. The female condom is of the utmost importance in the fight against HIV/Aids and should be available and accessible worldwide, she stated.
She then interviewed the three Paper Doll Champions: Ngacha Njeri from Kenya, Gislaine Ada Ngaska from Cameroon and Melissa Hughes from the United States of America. These highly motivated advocates come from the countries that collected the most dolls and were selected to come to the event. Mrs. Ferrier talked with them about the Paper Doll Campaign in their country, the use and availability of female condoms and the steps that still have to be taken.
Gislaine Ada Ngaska showed Wassila Hachchi (Democrats) and the audience how a female condom works. She gave a thorough demonstration of the condom, explaning the do's and don'ts to the Members of Parliament and all other people present, of whom many never saw a female condom before.
Then the audience was surprised by a real female condom dress that was shown by Sylvana Lubuva. This dress, made in Cameroon, played a role in the Cameroon campaign on the 8th of March. It was shipped to the Netherlands, especially for this occasion.
At the end of the event a life size paper doll was signed by the Members of Parliament. They wrote their own message to emphasize the urgency of accessibility of female condoms. "Make the call for female condoms heard all over!" and "Put your money where your mouth is!"
All the photographs, taken by Guus Schoonewille are available here. If you want to use them in your own communications, feel free to do so. Please mention Universal Access to Female Condoms Joint Programme / Guus Schoonewille
Here you find the official invitation by the Dutch Parliament (Dutch)
The Paper Doll Event is part of the worldwide Paper Doll Campaign.
