Advocacy Champions from the six Girl Scouting regions in the Philippines, supported by the Girl Powered Nutrition project, led the yearly July Nutrition Month celebrations through a diverse range of digital activities. Here, Girl Scout and GPN Advocacy Champion Francine Pradez explains all.
With the theme, “Batang Pinoy Sana Tall, Iwas Stunting Sama All” provided by the National Nutrition Council, the July Nutrition Month celebration aims to tackle growth impairment among Filipino children through collective action from the Government, non-governmental organisations, and the community.
Research shows that stunting resulted in a decrease in children’s educational performance and an increase in the contraction of non-communicable diseases over the last decade. Furthermore, about 1.5% to 3% of the national gross domestic product is lost to efforts in controlling stunting.
“As Girl Powered Nutrition Advocacy Champions, we wanted to celebrate this month by providing digital activities that girls and community members could access from home whilst they are isolating through the COVID-19 crisis.
Our month-long celebration and campaign is designed to dispel superstitions about stunting while also raising awareness about the need for better healthcare and access to services for girls and young women who are disproportionately affected by the
impacts of the pandemic.” Francine Pradez
Working as a team of girl advocates
The GPN Advocacy Champions divided the weeks in the month between them, to each have a different focus, aiming to engage girls of all ages in every region of the country.
The month started with the girls delivering polls and icebreakers such as an I Spy game and posting infographics on our ‘Put Your Best Fork Forward’ nutrition campaign social media channels, to debunk nutrition myths and engage younger girls.
Girl Guides then delivered some of the GPN Badge Curriculum activities through online channels and held two engaging educational webinars: SDG2 Zero Hunger and the role of girl advocates, and Stunting and Wasting in the Philippines, attended by over 200 Girl Guides.
Topping off the festivities was an Advocacy Bootcamp for Senior and Cadet Girl Scouts during the third week of July 2020. Selected participants to the Bootcamp were invited for a close mentoring session with the current Advocacy Champions on creating an advocacy strategy and the best practices in monitoring and evaluating their projects.
Finally, a digital magazine has been launched to finish off the month and celebrate their successes. Positive virtual interactions with the target demographic have highlighted the need to prepare girls in becoming the change in their own communities as well as the importance of passing on the baton to the next set of girl leaders in our country.