Our project manager, Aurélie Desrumaux, and our project coordinator, Sokhna Fall Ba, were in Amsterdam on September 23 to meet with their partners as part of the European CHANGE Plus project. Equipop is in charge of activities in France, including training volunteers to promote the abandonment of FGM within their communities: mediators for change. On the agenda for the day: an overview of the actions implemented in each country and discussions on best practices for raising awareness among migrants.
Numerous advances in the European movement to end female genital mutilation
The project's partner organizations, fromGermany, Italy, France, Portugal, Belgium, and the Netherlands , shared their progress on the project regarding the recruitment of change mediators, the start of training, and the distribution of brochures. For Equipop, several advances are worth noting:
- 6 change mediators recruited;
- 2 training sessions organized;
- a training manual and brochure for education and health professionals, translated.
The wealth of activities presented by the various partners shows that momentum is building. A total of 48 change mediators are involved in the project.
Sharing experiences for project managers and change mediators
[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width= »1/2″]The project managers play a key role in this project: training and supporting change mediators in implementing awareness-raising activities on MSF. Gathered together for the occasion, they were able to discuss strategies, approaches, and positions to adopt in order to mobilize migrant populations, share advice, and discuss the progress of the first training sessions and how to improve them.
[/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width= »1/2″]
"It's encouraging to see that elsewhere in Europe, other campaigners are working to end this practice and ensure that human rights are respected," said Sokhna Fall Ba.
The project leaders therefore plan to stay in touch and develop exchanges via social media between the different communities they work with. Next Saturday, the first Skype call will be organized between French and German change mediators to share experiences in the local language.
By 2017, all change mediators from different European countries will have been trained and equipped and will be ready to organize and lead awareness-raising activities within their communities. We will learn more about our partners' activities at the next meeting, scheduled to take place in London on February 24, 2017: more fruitful discussions are in store!
