Report: U.S. Delegation to West Africa

[Anna White]

Dear Friends,

In February, Essential Action organized a delegation of U.S. tobacco
control advocates to West Africa (Senegal & Nigeria). By all accounts,
the trip went phenomenally well. Please find below some general
information about the trip.

Two emails will follow with further details and photos of our activities
in Senegal and Nigeria. The emails are rather lengthy, but we think
you'll find their content interesting. We will also send out a fourth
email with links to additional photos of tobacco advertising  in West
Africa.

Essential Action will make additional trip-related media coverage,
participant reports, and audiovisual footage accessible online, as they
become available:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/wafr04/


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TOBACCO CONTROL ACROSS BORDERS:
U.S. Delegation to West Africa
       February 9-21
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1. General Purposes of U.S. Delegation to West Africa
2. U.S. Delegation Participants
3. GPTC Host Organizations
4. General Reflections on the Trip
5. Materials Available
6. Thank You for Your Support!


1) GENERAL PURPOSES OF U.S. DELEGATION TO WEST AFRICA

* Strengthen collaboration across borders between U.S. and West African
tobacco control advocates
* Support tobacco control advocacy efforts of our global partners in
West Africa
* Gather useful information and materials for tobacco control advocacy
efforts in the U.S.
* Raise awareness in the U.S. and West Africa about the tobacco
industry's global expansion, as well as tobacco control efforts in the
U.S. and West Africa.


2) U.S. DELEGATION PARTICIPANTS

Members of the U.S. delegation came from 5 states/districts:

CA: Carol McGruder (San Francisco African American Tobacco Free Project)

CO: Felicia Aniniba (Denver Public Health)
DC: Anna White (Essential Action)
NY: Ken Dahlgren, Jessica Harvey, Katy Pezzimenti, & Dave Walling
(Reality Check)
MD: Theresa Ogide-Alaeze (Smoke Free Maryland)

Two members (Felicia & Theresa) are from Nigeria but live in the U.S.
Four members, including a high school and college student (Jessica &
Katy), are involved with a statewide youth program that has worked
closely with a Nigerian group over the past year.  Another member
(Carol) has close ties to Senegal and has collaborated for many years
with a tobacco control group in the country. And yet another member
(Anna) once lived in Senegal, where she conducted research on the
tobacco industry's marketing practices.

For brief bios of the participants, go to:
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco/event/wafr04/participants.html


3) GPTC HOST ORGANIZATIONS

Our trip to West Africa would not have been possible without the
tireless efforts of our colleagues in Senegal, Nigeria, Benin, and
Niger. The extensive time and energy they put into on-the-ground
preparations was key to the trip's success.

SENEGAL: Laokein Combo, Pascal Didier Mandiamy, Moustapha Drame
(Mouvement Anti-Tabac du Senegal)
NIGERIA: Akinbode Oluwafemi (Environmental Rights Action); Adeola
Akinremi, Seun Akioye, Tosin Ogodun (Journalists Action on Tobacco &
Health; Eze Eluchie (People Against Drug Dependence); and members of the
Nigerian Tobacco Control Alliance.

Anna White of Essential Action also visited briefly with GPTC groups in
Benin and Niger...

BENIN: Charles Kassa (Potentiel 2000 - ONG); Bernard Dossou Dossa (Que
Choisir Benin)
NIGER: Inoussa Saouna (SOS Tabagisme - Niger)

We thank all of our West African colleagues for their warm friendship
and hospitality.


4) GENERAL REFLECTIONS ON THE TRIP

The trip provided an opportunity for U.S. delegation members,
particularly those who had never been to West Africa before, to deepen
their understanding of the cultural, political, and economic context of
their global partners' tobacco control efforts. Simple difficulties like
slow internet connections and frequent power outages made an impression
on U.S. delegation members. "This is our reality," said a Senegalese
colleague matter-of-factly as we suddenly found ourselves plunged into
darkness while climbing stairs one night. For one delegation member, it
was a profound moment of understanding. The trip helped U.S. delegation
members put into perspective many of the things we take for granted in
our tobacco control work in the U.S.

Perhaps the most valuable part of the trip was the opportunity for
global partners to meet in person and engage in joint activities.  Email
just can't beat face-to-face interaction!  Members of the U.S.
delegation say that the trip has strengthened their commitment to and
passion for tobacco control advocacy at home and abroad.  And members of
host organizations say that the visit energized them and boosted the
credibility of their work. All benefited from the cross-border exchange
of ideas, skills, and experience. The consensus at the end of the trip:
we need to do more of these!


5) MATERIALS AVAILABLE & FOLLOW UP

The U.S. delegation, never without multiple camcorders and digital
cameras, documented just about every aspect of our trip.  Links to many
of the photos we took are included in the three emails to follow. The
complete set of photos (arranged in chronological order by country) can
also be accessed through the GPTC website. Higher resolution versions of
the photos are available upon request.

Colleagues around the world are welcome to use the photos in their work,
provided that photos are properly credited. If you are able to make a
small contribution towards tobacco control efforts in West Africa in
exchange for the use of some of our photos, all the better! Contact
Essential Action for more information on how to do this.


6) THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

We would thank the following organizations and individuals for their
financial and material support of various aspects of our trip:

ORGANIZATIONS: Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, American
Cancer Society, Action on Smoking or Health, Campaign for Tobacco Free
Kids, Denver Public Health, Essential Action, Evanston-IL Rotary Club,
Guelph International Resource Center, John Hopkins Institute for Global
Tobacco Control, Reality Check, Smoke Free Maryland

INDIVIDUALS: Mark Breax, Michaeline Fedder

Enjoy the rest of the report!
Anna, aka "Adaugo"

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Global Partnerships for Tobacco Control
Essential Action
P.O. Box 19405
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: +1 202-387-8030
Fax: +1 202-234-5176
Email: tobacco@essential.org
http://www.essentialaction.org/tobacco