NALA selected to lead an inaugural World NTD Day campaign

On January 30, NALA joined the first global call to action for World NTD Day. This inaugural day was announced by the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi at the Reaching the Last Mile Forum in November, leading to a worldwide contest that awarded micro-grants to NGOs as a way to raise awareness on NTDs. NALA received one of the coveted micro-grants to launch a campaign in Bench Maji Zone, one of the toughest disease hot spots in Ethiopia.

During the week of World NTD Day, NALA produced two radio shows and organized a community cleaning campaign in Bench Maji Zone. The radio campaign was made together with the zonal health bureau and the local radio station, and the shows were aired in 3 languages (Amharic, Bench, and Dizi) and featured local talent. The first show was a call to collective action for the community to fight NTDs, and the second broadcast was a radio drama featuring a health worker who gives advice to a local woman in the clinic. The radio campaign reached an estimated 100,000 people, including many rural and remote communities that have been hard to reach! In addition, NALA’s college volunteers organized sanitation campaigns in Mizan town and the surrounding villages. More than 250 people joined together to clean their local communities and make them a healthier place for their families. In a world where 1 in 5 people are still at risk of contracting NTDs, NALA is leading on many efforts to raise awareness and eliminate these diseases.