Giant mosquitoes attack Brussels public on World Malaria Day

Event: 25 April 2015 – 14:30-17:00 – Carrefour de l’Europe, 1000 Brussels

To mark World Malaria Day this Saturday, giant mosquitoes (in the form of young anti-poverty activists – ONE Youth Ambassadors) are targeting the public in an awareness-raising stunt in central Brussels. To inform the public about this killer disease and the importance of concerted global action in 2015, this unique year for change-making, ONE Youth Ambassadors are:

• Encouraging citizens to #demandbetter and call on world leaders to commit to new development goals that are focused, financed and followed so that deadly diseases such as malaria can be eliminated (15:00-17:00)
• Dancing in a flashmob (three times between 15:00 and 17:00)
• Miming mosquito attacks and showing the power of mosquito nets (14:30-15:00)
• Engaging children in ‘Kill the mosquito’ game and encouraging them to become ‘Malaria Warriors’ (with prizes) (15:00-17:00)
• Handing out fake money factsheets on malaria – showing the importance of finance for tackling killer diseases (15:00-17:00)
• Providing photo opportunities with giant mosquitoes (15:00-17:00)

2015 provides a momentous opportunity for world leaders to commit to zero malaria deaths by 2030. On World Malaria Day, ONE Youth Ambassadors are encouraging citizens to push their leaders to agree on an ambitious set of Sustainable Development Goals this September at the UN – goals which are designed to eradicate extreme poverty and end the epidemics of diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, by 2030.

Notes to editors:

• For more information, contact ONE: Marion Sharples – [email protected] – +32 (0)2 300 90 55 – +32 (0) 497 90 05 57 or Tess Uytterhoeven – [email protected] – +32 (0)2 300 89 42 – +32 (0)471 89 64 22
• Interviews and pictures: The ONE Youth Ambassadors will be available for interview at the World Malaria Day stunt, and journalists are encouraged to attend the event. ONE will provide the press with photographs of the stunt immediately after the event.
• About ONE Youth Ambassadors: The ONE Youth Ambassadors project is an initiative that empowers more than 250 young activists across Europe to carry out the fight against extreme poverty – campaigning locally, nationally and online. The first Youth Ambassadors Programme was launched in 2014, and this year runs simultaneously in Belgium, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Ireland and Italy.
• About malaria: Malaria is a tropical and potentially deadly disease caused by parasites and transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito. Big increases in the resources available to combat it (such as the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria) have had great positive health impacts: since the year 2000 malaria deaths have been halved. However, in 2013 there were still an estimated 198 million cases of malaria worldwide and 584,000 deaths. About 90% of all malaria deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, where on average, a child dies of malaria nearly every minute of the day.
• About ONE: ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organisation of more than 6 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Not politically partisan, we raise public awareness and press political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programmes. To learn more, go to ONE.org.