The 16 Days of Activism to end gender based violence kicked off on November 25th. Today the Office of the Special Envoy for Women and Children and the US Embassy teamed up to take it to a "whole other level."
The staged a flashmob in the middle of Belize City. Now, if you don't know what a flashmob is, it's a group of unassuming folks spontaneously bursting into dance in a public place. Now this wasn't quite that; this was more of a performance in the middle of Albert Street - and apart from stopping traffic, it sure did turn heads!
The US Ambassador, Carlos Moreno, the Prime Minister's wife Kim Barrow, the BDF and other stakeholders took the street as a stage, danced to soca music and invited bystanders to join in.
We asked them how the flashmob ties in with the 16 Days of Activism and eliminating gender based violence.
Kim Simplis Barrow - Special Envoy for Women and Children
"We started from November 1st actually with several campaigns and it's the Orange the World campaign where we tried to get companies to put their orange ribbon, or buy a flag to end domestic violence. It's going really well, I should say. I noticed that a company like Benny's has like 3 banners on the front, and we must commend these companies who have supported the campaign because it really goes to show that they are taking a stand against gender based violence. That's one of the thigs. We did a Let's Have the Talk with High School Students very, a very candid discussion. We learned so much from our young people, and the wealth of information that they have is quite impressive. And then we did the launch last week Friday to open the 16 Days of Activism where we featured, our guest speakers were survivors of gender based violence, and again that was a very inspiring day. It really brought to the for front that anyone can be a victim at any given point, and so it's important that we know the facts on gender based violence and that we try to do something to eliminate gender based violence."
Carlos Moreno - US Ambassador
"Well this fits in perfectly with the embassy's campaign and the country's campaign led by the First Lady, co-lead by her to really commemorate but also to highlight the campaign the 16 Days Against Gender Based Violence. We thought we would have a little fun today dancing, it felt like dancing with the stars but I certainly wasn't one of the stars, but we really have to bring awareness to this particular issue that really passes across all ethnic groups, nationalities and countries. It's a worldwide issue. SO, if there's anything we can do as an Embassy, and the First Lady can do to really highlight this question in Belize, I think it's something that simply has to be done. So I hope by today's effort, by stopping traffic if you will and dancing crazily in the streets that we've sort of taken one step in that direction."
And this isn't the last of these activities. The US Embassy will be hosting a Mannequin Challenge Event on December 16th in Belmopan as part of the campaign to eliminate gender based violence.
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