Call for participants
Filming the bridge: youth dialogue gets viral
Training workshop to create and produce videos on Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting (FGM/C)

When: from the 12th to the 21st of July 2017
Where: Kampala, Uganda
Who is holding the workshop: AIDOS (Italian Association for Women in Development) in the framework of the project “Building Bridges between Africa and Europe to Tackle FGM/C” supported by the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C.

What is about?
This workshop aims to foster mutual dialogue among young people in order to develop common strategies and tools to promote the abandonment of FGM/C. As a first step participants will be motivated to share their personal experience and/or their personal expertise on the practice and /or on video making. They will then cooperate to produce videos about FGM/C (both during the training and in the following months) that reflect their mutual learning experience, their commitment towards the abandonment of the practice, their suggestions and ideas to facilitate the abandonment of the practice in a building bridges perspective between Africa and Europe.

In this regard, a special attention will be paid to the following elements: the role of the diaspora in the abandonment process; the role of the family and community of origin in the FGM decision making process; the possible role of African civil society organisation and communities in favouring or discouraging the practice to be performed on girls living in Europe during vacations in Africa; the role of the European and African authorities if any, etc.

At the end of the training, participants will be given a smartphone in order to do further filming in their hometown. The projects deemed more interesting will also benefit of a special prize and the remote support of the trainers to be completed.

To whom is it addressed?
Young people (18-30 years old) with experience in communication/media and/or social work from the African countries part of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C[1] and Africans/people of African descent living in Europe.

If you wish to express your interest, you must be sure that:

• You are between 18 and 30; 
• You are of African descent and you live in a EU member country (the criteria being the residence and not the nationality)
  or
  You are a citizen of one of the African countries part of the UNFPA-UNICEF Joint Programme on FGM/C and you live there;
• You are a “media worker/student” such as a video maker or editor, video journalist, communication officer working with videos, web editor, etc.;
• You are a “social worker/student” working towards the abandonment of FGM/C such as a community agent of change, a cultural/linguistic moderator, a community facilitator or any related position;
• You are willing and in the position to expose your own life and experiences in the public domain without the risk of retaliation;
• You are able to travel in Africa (your expenses will be covered by the project);
• You are very fluent in oral and written English.

Logistics: Workshop attendance is free. Expenses such as flights, transfers, accommodation and meals will be covered by AIDOS. Participants will not receive any form of payment for their attendance at the workshop.

How to apply
Send an email to segreteria@aidos.it, specifying in the subject line “Filming the bridge application”, with the following documents in attachment:

• Your CV (max. 2 pages; add links of your previous works if relevant);
• The application form duly filled; FORM Building Bridges AIDOS
• A short story/idea/script (max 1 page) for a video you would like to make once you get back home after the workshop to promote the abandonment of FGM/C in a building bridge perspective (i.e. how Africa and Europe together may contribute to the abandonment of the practice). The video may for instance include themes such as: the role of the diaspora in the abandonment process; the role of the family and community of origin in the FGM/C decision making process; the possible role of African civil society organisation and communities in favouring or discouraging the practice to be performed on girls living in Europe during vacations in Africa; the role of the European and African authorities if any, etc. The video can be either fictional or based on a real story, you are anyway encouraged to base that on your own experience/work regarding your commitment towards the abandonment of the practice, if any.

Those who submit their candidature in tandem (see below) will have to work together and send just one story/idea/script.

Application’s deadline: the 17th of April 2017. Only those candidates that are short-listed will be notified. Notifications will be sent by the 8th of May 2017.

Qualified female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply. Tandem candidatures are encouraged (1 media worker and 1 social worker form the same geographical are).

Call for participants
[1] Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Uganda, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.