(left) Taina Bofferding, Luxembourg’s Minister of Equality between Women and Men; Credit: MEGA

On Wednesday 5 July 2023, the first edition of the "MEGA-Rallye" brought together three secondary schools in Esch-sur-Alzette in the presence of Luxembourg’s Minister of Equality between Women and Men, Taina Bofferding.

Favouring an interactive and participative approach, the "MEGA-Rallye" invited nine classes to discuss the themes of equality between women and men and gender.

Each secondary school had the opportunity to select a "host" class beforehand, whose mission was to set up awareness workshops. In order to convey their ideas, the pupils had recourse, among other things, to interactive presentations, sketches or image galleries. At the same time, two “explorer” classes were designated per secondary school, and they went to the other two secondary schools to discover and experience these peer-designed awareness workshops.

200 pupils participated, namely sixth and fifth secondary school year pupils from the Lycée de Garçons Esch, the Lycée Hubert Clément and the Lycée Technique de Lallange. Together they discovered (following the “peer-to-peer” principle) new subjects related to equality, to discuss the themes of "sexism in the media", "gender-marketing", "stereotypes in video games" and "sexism and stereotypes in the sports world".

According to the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men, during the debriefing at the end of the morning, the young people and their guides realised the impact of sexism on their daily lives and developed new perspectives and acquire tools for a more egalitarian life. They reportedly found the morning to be informative and useful.

Minister Bofferding was optimistic: "I was impressed by the enthusiasm of the young hosts who knew how to make their participants aware of our themes with great variety, and I am convinced that the participatory approach of this day, which made it possible to sensitise more than 200 pupils to the theme of equality, will constitute a key element in the fight against gender stereotypes.”