On 3rd and 4th of March 2016, TERRE DES FEMMES hosted the official kick-off meeting of the CHANGE Plus project at their head office in Berlin. All of the European project partners – AIDOS, APF, Coventry University, End FGM, Equipop, FSAN and Plan Stiftung – participated in the meeting and contributed to its success.
After a brief welcoming speech by TDF’s Executive Director Christa Stolle, all participants introduced themselves and their organisation, as well as their role within the CHANGE Plus project and their personal expectations for the meeting. This was followed by presentations on the over all goals and strategies of CHANGE Plus and specific elements of the first three Workstreams of the project, such as management and coordination, community mapping and project evaluation. As the training of the CHANGE Agents and the Behaviour Change Activities will be discussed in detail during the next meeting in Amsterdam this autumn, the project partners only discussed the call for applications for the future CHANGE Agents as well as their role and duties. Furthermore, the participants extensively discussed the new modules for the training manual and agreed on necessary revisions of the already existing prevention brochure. In the evening, the first day of the meeting finished off with a joint dinner.
The second day started with a presentation on Workstream 4, which aims at the dissemination of the project’s activities and results. The presentation of the associated partners, Plan International Mali and Bangr Nooma in Burkina Faso, and their role in the project inspired lively exchanges, together with Mrs Fatoumata Siré Diakité being announced as the special ambassador for CHANGE Plus. The afternoon was dedicated to the Leadership Training for the CHANGE Champions. Which role do they play and which skills does it require to be a CHANGE Champion? In a final brainstorming, the participants exchanged ideas for a new video on FGM, which the Plan Stiftung will be producing together with CHANGE Agents and Champions.
After two productive days, everyone left quite exhausted, but very motivated and looking forward to the next meeting in Amsterdam in September.
Presentations:
CHANGE Plus - General Introduction
CHANGE Plus - Introduction TERRE DES FEMMES
CHANGE Plus - WS 0 Management and Coordination
CHANGE Plus - WS 1 Kick-off meeting
CHANGE Plus - WS 2 Associated Partners
CHANGE Plus - WS 2 Prevention Brochure
CHANGE Plus - WS 2 Recruitment of CA - Material Packages
CHANGE Plus - WS 2 Training Manual
CHANGE Plus - WS 4 Dissemination
CHANGE Plus - WS 4 End FGM
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