Media
Media development action with informed and engaged societies
Media
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Femsud’s Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS Campaign

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Femsud Consult, based in the Netherlands, carried out a week-long public awareness campaign in 2004 using radio, print media, exhibitions, sporting and public events, debates and music concerts to honour the international day of the fight against AIDS, on the theme girls and women against HIV/AIDS. The campaign was called “Les femmes, les filles, le VIH et le SIDA” (women, girls, HIV and AIDS) and was held November 25 to December 3 2004. The goal of the week-long programme was to create public awareness in Maroua, in the north of Cameroon. In late 2005, a similar campaign will be carried out in the east of the country.
Communication Strategies
The goals of the week-long campaign included:
  • equipping women and girls with the knowledge, attitudes and reflexes to be better able to fight HIV/AIDS;
  • raising awareness amongst girls and women about the social and environmental effects of HIV/AIDS
  • encouraging girls and women to dedicate themselves to the struggle against HIV/AIDS, particularly in the northern part of the country;
  • remove all doubts as to the existence of HIV/AIDS;
  • provide information and documentation for society, particularly girls and women;
  • involve teen mothers, encouraging them to talk about their experiences relating to HIV/AIDS prevention; and
  • educate entrepreneurial women and involve them in educational, mentorship roles.

Activities included the following interactive events:
  • an hour-long interactive radio programme organised in collaboration with Cameroon Radio and Television (CRTV) Maroua;
  • a question and answer quizz competition held between various groups of girls and women, including schoolgirls, prostitutes and HIV-positive women;
  • a moderated exhibition of photos, magazines, publications, folders, brochures on HIV/AIDS in the Cameroon and beyond;
  • a moderated debate workshop about the care of HIV-positive people in the northern part of the country;
  • a horse race, a popular activity in that region, mobilising public attendance and public awareness-raising;
  • an evening at which national orchestras performed and to which members of the public, state and relevant non-governmental organisations were invited;
  • a press release geared at the general public was provided to CRTV, in order to release it in various local languages before and over the course of the week;
  • a press kit both in English and French distributed to diverse media who then disseminated the information;
  • an open-air debate about HIV/AIDS was held with three doctors and a health worker present;
    • and
  • illustration or drawing competitions relating to HIV/AIDS .
Development Issues
Gender, HIV/AIDS, Youth, Women.
Key Points
In 2006, the programme plans to continue its work, focusing on malaria and tuberculosis, using music, testing or screening drives and integrating a socio-economic component. Screening drives are set to start in lower-income areas and in villages, using a bottom-up method and endorsing socio-economic support for ill people and their families.
Partners

Femsud Consult, Groupe Technique Provincial de la lutte contre le VIH/SIDA Extreme Nord, Organisation Pour le Developpement et l'Education des Filles (OPDEF).

Sources

Huguette Samgot sent an email to the Soul Beat Africa team on 23 June 2005.

Media
Media development action with informed and engaged societies