All around the world, the 11th of July is highlighted as the well-known World Population Day. On this occasion and as part of the project, Empowered communities and service providers that promote safe motherhood and family planning, Amel Association International’s center in Ersal organized a community event on Saturday 14th of July with theatre plays, showcases, focus groups and a cooking contest.
On Saturday 14th of July 2018, a community event took place in Ersal’s center to celebrate the World Population Day (11th of July) as part of the project – Empowered communities and services providers to promote safe motherhood and family planning – implemented by Amel Association International and supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). An opportunity for peer educators, social workers and head of centers to give a message through recreational and learning activities.
On this warm afternoon, in one of the schools of Ersal, around a hundred people gathered for a public event in a very friendly atmosphere. Among them was present a representative of the mayor of Ersal, a nurse and two “Shawish”, leaders and mediators of the informal tented settlements. During their speeches, they really stressed on the necessity of this project in their camps and how much they were grateful about its set up.
For the opening of the event, a showcase organized and performed by peer educators presented some of the problems of daily life encountered by the population and especially by young people.
After the play, people were invited to participate in the decoration of a crafted globe, representing Earth, by stamping their hands with colorful paint in order to make hand prints. This led to a beautiful moment of sharing and in the afternoon community educators aided in raising awareness among new beneficiaries on the topic of “family planning is a human right”, which was the 2018 International Population day’s main subject. Towards the end of the day, several women from three different camps (Mahaba, Baraa 1, Yamine Clam) participated in a cooking competition: the dish prepared by the women from Mahaba seemed to unanimously be the favorite one. Overall, the event was a very warm and joyful, and was the occasion to bring people together around the topic of the right of information and family planning.
Since last May, 2,800 people have benefited from the project implemented by Amel Association International and supported by UN Funds for the population. Peer educators, including 15 women and 10 men, now organize weekly awareness sessions on different topics such as contraception, HIV/AIDS and how to live a pregnancy without risks. Today, these awareness sessions benefit up to 35 camps in the area of Ersal.
