Prevention and Education Against Smog (PES 2.0)

Name of the activity: Prevention and Education Against Smog (PES 2.0)

Country/NMO: Pakistan (IFMSA-Pakistan)

Program: Environment & Health

Contact information: [email protected]

Type of the activity: Campaign. Combination of education and advocacy. Campaigns create awareness in society about a certain topic (education aspect) and try to funnel this awareness into pressure on the decision makers to adapt policies accordingly (advocacy aspect).

General description:

IFMSA Pakistan AIMC- LC, in collaboration with IFMSA Pakistan SKZMDC- LC, plans to conduct a campaign to raise awareness about smog. The campaign will comprise of two parts, namely a follow up to the last year’s activity about smog and a new campaign to highlight the features, effects, prevention, and precautions related to smog. The follow up will take place under similar conditions in the same institutions as that of the last year. The new campaign will specifically target the students of the age group 13-17 years of the new institutions. Specific questionnaires will be used to evaluate both parts of the campaign as discussed in detail above. No significant hazards or risk factors to IFMSA members are involved. Promotion of the activity will be done through IFMSA Pakistan AIMC-LC and IFMSA Pakistan SKZMDC- LC Facebook pages, Twitter, Snapchat accounts and other social media outlets.

Focus area:

Air Pollution

Problem statement:

Smog has recently reached severe intensity in the Asia Pacific Region especially Pakistan. According to a survey by Pakistan Air Quality initiative, five of the major cities of Pakistan including Lahore, have severely high rate of air pollution which substantially increases every year leading to worsening smog every year. According to Pakistan Air Quality Initiative survey of 29th November 2018, Lahore has an AQI score of 488 (AQI is an Index of Smog Intensity) which is considered as hazardous.

Target groups:

General population

Beneficiaries:

General population

Objectives and indicators of success:

Follow up of the PES activity conducted in the previous term.

Follow up will be conducted under the same conditions as last year to evaluate the effectiveness of the previously conducted activity. The comparison of relative data of the two successive campaigns will indicate the success of campaign.

To elaborate the risks of smog to the target group.

In PES 2.0, we plan to expand the activity to new institutions. Questionnaires will be distributed before and after the activity specifically designed to distinguish the knowledge originally present before the activity and new facts gained after the activity. Data analysis from these questionnaires and data comparison is the indicator of success shown by the proportion of target population learning new risks associated with smog exposure.

To educate about the effects of smog to the target group.

Worksheets will be distributed to the students after the activity to test their learning of the effects of smog. The proportion of students remembering more than 50% of the explained facts will indicate the successful completion of this objective.

To educate about the preventive measures against smog.

Methodology:

“The activity is divided into two parts, follow up and awareness campaign similar to the previous PES activity.

>Follow up is designed to evaluate the long term impact of the PES activity conducted previously. Specifically designed questionnaires will be distributed to test the knowledge they retained.

> As to awareness campaign, teams will be sent to different institutions targeting the students (13 to 17 years of age). Each team, comprising of at least 3 members will target the class of 25-30 students. Pre-Activity Evaluation forms will be distributed to check the knowledge of students about smog. Teams will then conduct the activity according to workshop plan (including information regarding Smog, differences between Fog and Smog, Short term and Long term effects, prevention, and precautions). Afterwards, Post-Activity Evaluation forms will be distributed and solved by the students. Analysis of these forms will reflect what students have gained from the activity.

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Plans for evaluation:

At all times teachers will be present to maintain the decorum of the class room. The Presidents IFMSA Pakistan AIMC- LC and SKZMDC- LC, along with the members of their Executive Boards will be present to monitor the effective implementation of the activity.

“> Follow up is conducted to evaluate the success of the last year’s activity. To estimate this, we will distribute specifically designed questionnaires and evaluate the effectiveness of previously conducted activity. The comparison of relative data of the two successive campaigns will indicate the sustainability of campaign.

> Evaluation of the new campaign part is done through the pre and post evaluation forms that will be given to the students before and after the activity respectively. Comparative analysis of these forms will show the effectiveness of the campaign.

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