This year, we are
introducing the inaugural Soroptimist International December 10th
Advocacy Campaign – one day when all Soroptimists and their local
partners and supporters are asked to participate in a collective, worldwide advocacy effort
which will link to the year’s December 10th Appeal. We are
excited to announce that the action SI has chosen is "flash mobbing" – both
actual and virtual.
This year, in recognition of the 2011 December 10th Appeal, Birthing in the Pacific, we are Flash
Mobbing for Mums! Soroptimists are encouraged to organise a flash mob to use our collective voice to encourage governments all over the world to proactively
invest in the training and resources needed to avert preventable deaths
associated with pregnancy and childbirth, just as SI is doing in Papua New Guinea with this year’s December 10th Appeal.
We are asking
Soroptimists from all corners of the globe to join together to Flash Mob for Mums. Here is how YOU can
join in:
The ‘Actual’ option:
1. Pick a place. Flash
mobs are all about being SEEN. Find somewhere big, public, and crowded, like a
shopping mall or train station (make sure you have permission if needed!)
2. Pick a time. When you
can ensure the most people will be able to join your mob? When will your site
be most crowded?
3. Create your
‘activity’. Flash mobs used to just be choreographed dances, but you can do
anything! Sing songs, sit quietly, show posters or photos – whatever you think
will grab the attention of passers-by. Connect your activity
to the SI message – that it is a human right not to die in childbirth and
governments must uphold their international obligations to protect women. Flash mobs
are generally fairly short, but it’s up to you.
4. Spread the word! Use
social media, word of mouth, and other communication methods to invite
participants to your mob. Ask local partners to join you – the more the better.
5. Wear yellow. Flash
mobs are identified initially by coordinated clothing. Yellow is the colour of
SI, so make sure everyone attending wears something yellow.
6. Spread the word MORE.
7. Create your materials.
Since this is a flash mob for advocacy, we want our message to be heard in more
ways than one. Create a hand-out or giveaway to distribute during or after your
mob. Use the advocacy ask developed by SI (below).
The ‘Virtual’ Option:
1. This ‘virtual’ option
is for those clubs who may not be able to ‘flash mob’ in a public place due to their
location, political situation, or other restricting factor.
2. SI has released an advocacy statement (below) which you can download and use to develop letters to your local government representative or member of parliament, or press releases. Use these to coordinate a “virtual” flash mob.
3. The aim is to “mob”
government officials or other decision-makers with letters and postcards on
December 10th. You could even deliver them in person if your government allows!
Advocacy Ask 2011:
"Soroptimist
International, a worldwide service organisation for women, is 90,000 voices and
180,000 feet strong. And today, December 10th, International Human Rights Day, we are using
our voices, our feet, and our partners to seek justice for mothers all over the
world.
Today, we are flash mobbing
for mums to demand that governments take action to ensure that not one more
woman needlessly dies from treatable complications in pregnancy. We call upon
governments to commit the necessary resources – time, money, and people – to
ensure that every birth is attended by a skilled practitioner and that every
woman has access to emergency obstetric services should she need them.
In short, it is a human
rights obligation to guarantee access to 1) a skilled birth attendant, and 2)
emergency obstetric care to every woman in the world, starting domestically and
then working to support other countries".
December 2011
To access the full set of
resources, including SI’s advocacy ask and a letter template to send to your government (we recommend either your constituency MP, or those MPs working specifically on gender or those responsible for health), visit the dedicated page of the SI
website or click here to download the letter template directly.
Click HERE to read about the Birthing in the Pacific project, where we
show just how we can use education, empowerment, and enabling opportunities in
an on-the-ground intervention, to improve maternal health outcomes.
Click HERE to see how this day of action fits within our Educate to Lead
programme of work.
And if you can’t participate this year, SI’s December 10th Advocacy Campaign is an annual event and will take place every year! Perhaps you will be able to join in in 2012!