17 April, 2020
Mediothek Afghanistan Youth Network launched the most extensive and far‐reaching public awareness campaign on Friday, 17th of April, to raise awareness about the coronavirus pandemic across Afghanistan. The campaign (Message to Rescue from Corona) covers almost twenty provinces and several dozens districts and thousands of families throughout the country.
The door‐to‐door awareness campaign is carried out by Mediothek’s Youth Network and its provincial branches and representatives. Trained volunteer members of the youth network across all 18 provinces currently under the coverage of the initiative visit families door‐to‐door, providing information packages and most essential aid items such as soap and hand sanitizer and discussing preventive measures.
Speaking at the launch of the initiative in Istalif district of Kabul province Ahmad Sultan Karimi, founder and executive director of Mediothek Afghanistan, stressed the importance of raising awareness about the virus and its prevention adding that the main aim of the campaign (Message of Rescue from Corona) is to raise awareness about COVID–19 among local population in district and remote areas.
“Recognizing its altruistic responsibility towards our fellow countrymen in this very difficult time and giving the fact that most of our people in remote and rural areas do not have access to media and a big majority cannot read, Mediothek Afghanistan is launching the door–to–door awareness campaign to provide hands on information and essential cleaning items”, added Mr. Karimi.
The awareness campaign continues reaching out to local population across about 60 districts throughout the 20 provinces. Volunteers visit families door–to–door to speak to family leaders and members about preventive steps and keeping their families and communities safe in the face of the pandemic.
In addition to providing essential items such as soap and hand sanitizers which will help citizens keep the virus at bay by washing their hands with soap and water and using hand sanitizers when water is not available, the campaign (Message of Rescue from Corona) will also make available visual guidelines for fighting the virus to citizens who cannot read. The first phase of the campaign covers half of all the provinces and will continue to provide information and raising awareness as the country is struggling to cope with rising incidents of positive cases of coronavirus.
