Call to Action 2023-2024: and the winners are...

After 6 months of competition to develop an awareness-raising campaign on a forgotten crisis, a group of 8 students from the Lycée Technique de Lallange won first prize for creating and distributing 3 posters on unsafe abortion!

Call to Action, an inter-college solidarity project 

The Call to Action is a challenge launched in Luxembourg for the first time in October 2023. The aim is twofold: to inform secondary school students about 2 forgotten crises, and to give them the keys to understanding and taking action to run their own awareness-raising campaigns aimed at the general public. This year, 6 projects were submitted to take part in this first edition: 5 projects drawn up by 2 classes from the Lycée Technique de Lallange and 1 project drawn up by Forgotten Conflicts, a group of students from the International School of Luxembourg. Of these 6 projects, 3 were chosen as finalists for the challenge.

Create an awareness campaign on forgotten crises: unsafe abortions and malaria

It is estimated that every minute, somewhere in the world, a woman or girl attempts to terminate her pregnancy unsafely. In wealthy countries, it is estimated that for every 100,000 unsafe abortions, 30 women die. In developing regions, this figure rises to 220 deaths for every 100,000 unsafe abortions. MSF acts to protect the rights of women, young girls and all people of childbearing potential to choose whether to carry their pregnancy to term or to terminate it.

Malaria is a weapon of mass destruction that is still underestimated. It particularly affects young children and women, especially those living in poverty. In 2021, according to the WHO, 247 million people have contracted the disease. The disease is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, where 94% of cases have been recorded. The WHO estimates that 619,000 people died from malaria in 2021.

For the high school students who took part in the challenge, the first phase of the Call to Action was first and foremost a learning phase, raising awareness of the scale of these neglected or forgotten crises.

A month's awareness campaign: what lessons have been learned and what are the results?

On 15 May 2024, the three Call to Action finalist groups were invited to present the results of their campaigns, which they had developed themselves and distributed in April 2024 via the channels of their choice: social networks, website, flyers, etc. Each group had chosen a different medium to highlight its message, but all had an original idea:

• The group from Lycée Technique de Lallange, made up of Dino, Rihanna, Leticia, Lara, Rafael, Andrea, Ana and Rafael, worked on a campaign of 3 posters to highlight the different situations that can arise when a pregnancy occurs.
• Another group from Lycée Technique de Lallange, whose members are Katizia, Eloyse, Enzo and Benjamin, created and produced a short video to highlight the dangers of unsafe abortions.
• The Forgotten Conflicts group from the International School of Luxembourg: Noah, Noé, Aaryan, Andrés, Lucas and Oscar, preferred to devote their efforts to writing an article on malaria and an article on unsafe abortions.

When we explained the subject of unsafe abortion, we saw some amazing reactions: many young people and adults were unaware of the seriousness of the consequences.

Katizia, Eloyse, Enzo, Benjamin

To evaluate the projects, MSF Luxembourg was able to count on the mobilisation of professionals and volunteers who made up the Call to Action jury. In order to take into account the message, the veracity of the information transmitted and the strategy for disseminating it to their peers, several profiles were brought together: a midwifery manager, an operational research adviser, a digital project manager, a retired volunteer from the teaching profession and members of MSF Luxembourg's Public Engagement department.

And the winner is...

Following these presentations, the Call to Action jury voted in favour of the project submitted by Dino, Rihanna, Leticia, Lara, Rafael, Andrea, Ana and Rafael: the creation of a campaign to raise public awareness of unsafe abortion through 3 posters. The posters aim to highlight the various options available in the event of an unwanted pregnancy and to encourage respect for all choices: whether or not to go through with the pregnancy. Their motto: "Safe choice, secure rights: for safe medicalized abortions!"

To get their message across, the group of students created an Instagram account and a Facebook page, launched polls and quizzes for their subscribers, wrote informative publications... at the same time, they mobilised students at their high school by distributing flyers and giving class presentations.

Once again, I was impressed by the group that worked on the posters. In particular for having made the 10 presentations in class and for having published a prospectus! Their strategy is in tune with the Luxembourg public, they know their targets.

Rene, volunteer for MSF et member of the jury

Congratulations to everyone for their commitment throughout the project, and for their investment, motivation and creativity in creating these campaigns.