Case 4-6 Reaching out to women at the International Women’s Day festival: efforts to increase campaign participation

Key words	Women, skit demonstrations, public awareness, International Women’s Day festival, and a campaign to release juvenile cymbium
Context	In countries in West Africa where the extension worker system is not well developed, what can be done to reach out to more local residents with resource management activities? In COPAO, a JICA project, local women used a festival on 8 March 2023, which is International Women’s Day, to prepare a skit on sustainable use of fisheries resources to be performed by women in the village. and disseminate their resource management activities through theatre to women from inside and outside the country who gathered at the festival. What was it like?
Content	(1) Use local events as a venue for dissemination activities The COPAO team learned that a festival was to be held on 8 March 2023, International Women’s Day, led by a group of women in the village of Nianing who were conducting a campaign to release juvenile cymbium. The main participants in the campaign were women in the village who would buy and process cymbium daily; if the campaign could be communicated directly to the women who would gather at the festival, both inside and outside the village, it would be possible to dramatically increase the number of participants in the campaign. The Project explained the objectives of the campaign activities to the organizers of women’s events and gained their approval. Since the COVID-19 pandemic had prevented women’s groups from organising events for the past several years, the organizers had not been able to secure a sufficient budget of its own in 2023. Therefore, the COPAO project sponsored the International Women’s Day event by providing budgetary assistance. (2) Resource management awareness-raising activity program sought at the Women’s Day event To the originally planned International Women’s Day event, the following awareness-raising activity programs were added. Introduction of the objectives and activities of the campaign for releasing juvenile cymbidium and how to participate in the campaign Recognition of the best performers in the past campaigns Showing a skit featuring the campaign character for the release of juvenile cymbium (Shinbo), calling for the release of juvenile cymbium (3) Preparation for the women’s event At a women’s meeting in the village, the purpose of the awareness-raising activities to be conducted at the event was explained, and their motivation for the event was confirmed so that the women could take the initiative. They discussed the venue, sound system, provision of food, the number of guests and invitees, and the general framework of the day’s programme. They discussed the subject matter and storyline for the skit demonstration, selecting roles from among the female members of the group. In advance, the women were shown the animated film ‘Fighting Shimbo’ produced by the main members of COPAO and CLPA Djifer, to familiarise them with the story. While viewing the animated film at the meeting and tracing the movements of the characters, they practiced theatre and made props for two days of preparation. (4) Women’s event On the day of the event, all the women of Nianing came together in the morning to cook and prepare lunch. After congratulating the participants on International Women’s Day, they introduced the activities of COPAO and the cymbium release campaign, and expressed their appreciation for COPAO’s community support measures for sustainable resource management. A skit was performed by a group of volunteer fishermen from Nianing. The skit was about fishermen going out to fish, catching and landing cymbium, selling them to women processors, and releasing into the sea the juvenile cymbium they find during the processing process. This was followed by a skit titled ‘Fighting Shimbo’ performed by a group of women from the village. At the end of the skit, the woman playing the role of an environmental committee member explained to the audience the content and usage of the stamp card used in the juvenile release campaign, and encouraged new participants to use the card. Finally, awards were presented to the top performers (two each) invited from the four sites where the shellfish release campaign is being conducted: Djifer, Lompoul, and Fas Boye.
Lessons Learned	It was shown that awareness-raising activities that directly call for resource management activities to the people concerned through theatre could be a means of dissemination activities. This approach was demonstrated not only by the women’s group that COPAO called for, but also in the form of a spontaneous theatrical performance by volunteers from the local fishermen’s group, which proved its great potential regarding affinity with the local community. Moreover, a TV film crew from Nianing Info. Com visited the festival and interviewed the COPAO team, including key CLPA members, women’s group leaders, and Fisheries Department officials. The interviews, along with scenes from the festival, were later broadcast on RDV TV, which proved to be highly effective in publicising the resource management activities to a larger audience.
Guideline chapter relevant to this case study	Chapter 4 Strengthening the role and practical capacity of administration 4.3 Promoting the extension of co-management of fisheries resources (3) Use opportunities for inter-local collaboration of resource management organisations In addition to reaching out to central organisations that serve as contact points for activities in the target areas of resource management activities, conduct environmental education classes for teachers and students of local elementary and junior high schools on the main theme of the event, and use festivals organized by community women’s groups on International Women’s Day, which is an annual event, to raise awareness of resource management activities and increase the effectiveness of dissemination activities by using local institutions and events. Use community-based institutions and events to reach out directly to residents and increase the effectiveness of dissemination activities, such as by conducting educational activities on resource management activities.
Situation to which this case study could refer	In a situation where more people in the target area are required to participate in resource management activities by directly encouraging people to participate, the method of this project, which uses existing annual events that are deeply rooted in the daily lives of local residents, can serve as an effective reference case.