In March, the Avon Foundation recognized Equimundo, MenCare’s co-coordinator, as the winner of its 2014 Community Change Award, and named the Red de Masculinidad por la Igualdad de Género (REDMAS), the coordinator of MenCare Nicaragua, as one of four top finalists for the award. Created by the Avon Foundation for Women and Futures Without Violence, the award recognizes organizations whose innovative communication strategies help to transform communities, institutions, policies and behaviors to prevent and end violence against women and children.
“The Avon Communications Award Winners are casting a spotlight on issues that affect one in three women across the globe,” said Carol Kurzig, Avon Foundation for Women President.
Equimundo won the Community Change Award for its book Wind on my Face, authored by children in Brazil through Equimundo’s community programming to amplify the voices of youth to end violence against women and children. REDMAS landed a finalist spot for its Fatherhood Campaign, “Vos sos mi papa,” which uses innovative messaging on posters, handouts, t-shirts and baseball caps to promote men’s involvement in fatherhood in Nicaragua.
An international panel of judges selected Wind on my Face and “Vos sos mi papa” from more than 870 submissions by 303 organizations in 78 countries through the Communications X-Change’s collaborative online library.
More on the Featured Work:
Wind on my Face is a children’s book, created by children, to address issues that they feel their adults should know (download the book here in Portuguese). Together, 12 boys and girls between 6 and 13 years old created playful, simple stories told by the main character, Lucas, that address issues such as obedience, punishment, responsibilities, communication and rights and obligations of family members.
MenCare Nicaragua uses posters and other materials as part of its “Vos sos mi papa” campaign to provide positive messages that speak directly to fathers. “You are my father” (“Vos sos mi papa”) is a campaign message that MenCare partners and colleagues across the globe have made their own, adapting it to the contexts and cultures of their own countries. MenCare’s partners, like REDMAS, encourage fathers to see themselves the way that their children see them: to see the power and the potential, the importance and the responsibilities of fatherhood.
See the top finalists and recipients of Avon Communications Awards in each of the five categories on the Avon Foundation’s website (here).