#ImAgainstBullying national Campaign, supported by the EU, attracts huge public attention and triggers a commitment for change

Cairo, 24 September 2018- In an official function under the auspices of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), and with the presence of Dr. Azza Al Ashmawy, Secretary General of NCCM and Dr. Mohamed Omar, Deputy Minister of Education and Technical Education for Teachers’ Affairs, Ambassador Ivan Surkoš, the Head of the European Union Delegation in Egypt and Mr. Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Egypt, the #ImAgainstBullying national Campaign partners marked the success of the campaign and renewed their commitment towards ending all forms of violence against children.

The campaign comes in the context of the EU-supported project ‘Expanding Access to Education and Protection for At Risk Children in Egypt’, through which national efforts to protect children from all types of violence are enhanced.

"Egypt's young population, in particular children, is one of the nation's most valuable assets that should be sustainably nourished. The EU, in partnership with the Government of Egypt and other important development partners, are exerting efforts to ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality education and to grow in an environment free from all sources of violence," said Ambassador Ivan Surkoš, Head of the European Union Delegation to Egypt. "With support from the EU and in cooperation with our national partners and UNICEF, a series of strong advocacy efforts under the title 'Awladna' was initiated in 2016 to address important issues such as 'positive parenting' and 'cyber bullying'," he added. "Now with the EU support to the nationally-led campaign addressing bullying, we are pleased to see it trigger a public dialogue refusing bullying as a type of violence faced by children."

In addition to the Public Service Announcements reaching millions of viewers on broadcast media and encouraging the community to take an action against bullying, the campaign has been running on various social media platforms disseminating engaging awareness content under the hashtag #ImAgainstBullying. Since its launch, the campaign has inspired millions of social media users among which are children, parents and teachers as well as public figures and celebrities to interact with the hashtag sharing their personal stories, solutions and commitments to end bullying. Several private sector entities have assumed their community responsibility and supported the cause of the campaign by spreading its messages through their different platforms, among which are: UBER, Carrefour, Metro Market, Kheir Zaman, Fresh Food Market and Oscar.

“The National Child Helpline is playing an instrumental role in this campaign, with our trained specialists receiving thousands of calls from children, parents and caregivers voicing their concerns about bullying and requesting support,” said Dr. Azza Al Ashmawy, the Secretary General of the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), “The campaign is definitely rightfully addressing a concern that touches the lives of many children; and it is empowering them to speak up about it for the first time since the establishment of the Helpline.”

From his side Dr. Mohamed Omar, Deputy Minister of Education and Technical Education for Teachers’ Affairs stated, “The society’s readiness to adopt positive behavioral change is manifested through the high public interaction with the campaign.  We value the public recommendations and initiatives and we will continue working with all partners on ensuring that mechanisms to address and respond to bullying in schools will be fully activated.”

The event took place in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, which embraces the values of tolerance and diversity that come with this campaign.

“The indications of the campaign’s success through the reach of more than 55 million people on social media, the high number of media outlets discussing the issue of bullying, the activation of the Child Helpline in boosting awareness and absorbing the public demand, have all been inspiring,” said Mr. Bruno Maes, UNICEF Representative in Egypt. “But what shows our joint success in this campaign is seeing the first signs of change: when children call or post on social media apologizing to peers whom they have bullied, when teachers share their ideas of initiatives and commitments to stop bullying in their classes, it means attitudes to this violent behavior will start to change.”

As children are the integral part of breaking the circle of bullying, the voices of motivated children have been part of the event, presenting their perspectives and proposed solutions and calling for all children to speak up and act against bullying.  H.E. Ambassador Nabila Makram, Minister of State for Immigration and Expatriate Affairs showed her support to the campaign and was keen to join the event in which she directed a special message to children encouraging them to speak up against bullying. The Minister shared that she herself was subject to bullying because of her height, but did not let that influence her; and she encouraged all children to be resilient towards bullying. The campaign continues on air and on social media until the first week of October, and the partners are hoping for the motivation and actions to end this harmful behavior to continue beyond.

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You can view content and multimedia assets of the campaign on the official pages of the partners.

For more information, please contact:

The National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM):

Coordinator of the Social Media Unit: Iman Muhammed Ali, [email protected]

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NCCMEgypt/

The Ministry of Education and Technical Education (MOETE)

Media spokesperson, Ahmed Khairy, [email protected]

European Union:

Press Officer, Spokesperson: Ayman Elsherbiny, [email protected]

Website: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegation/egypt

Twitter: @EUinEgypt

Facebook: http://ww.facebook.com/EUinEgypt