Reaching the Outside World

How to Conduct a Campaign

The Sailing the Nile project was an advocacy campaign in Egypt led by UN agencies in collaboration with the Egyptian government, civil society and the private sector to raise awareness and trigger local action around the MDGs. The campaign centred on eight feluccas (Egyptian sailboats), each with an Egyptian-styled MDG symbol on its sail, which sailed down the Nile between 17 October and 8 December 2007, stopping in eight cities (Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Souhag, Assiut, Minya, Beni Suef and Cairo). The stops were used to launch a series of events celebrating human rights, development and youth volunteerism. Local committees were set up in each participating Governorate where hundreds of young people were mobilized to volunteer for development. In this photo, the feluccas were at their first stop Aswan, heading towards Luxor.

Photo: Layla Saad

A campaign uses a planned series of activities to educate people or, when the intent is advocacy, persuade them to change their minds or their actions. Campaign tactics may include reports, conferences, public service announcements, speeches and media coverage. Campaigns may use different strategies to reach different audiences, but they all coalesce around one or more core objectives linked to UNDP’s corporate mission. They should aim to build momentum for longer term results through short-term successes.

There are a few basic types of campaigns, as described in the MDG Campaigning Toolkit:

• To mobilize and involve people
• To pressure decision makers
• To inform and educate the public
• To change behaviours and attitudes
• To persuade people to support something
• To communicate positive messages about an organization or brand

Successful campaigns:

• Emphasize hopes and solutions, rather than only fears and problems
• Have a clear message
• Stay on message
• Are well researched, properly planned and fully funded
• Convince target audiences to identify with an issue
• Convince target audiences to take action on an issue

The first step in a campaign is to set the agenda by identifying an issue or problem that requires action—see the Checklist for Choosing a Problem and Issue from the Advocacy Institute. You also need to have a vision for change. What short and long-term objectives will help carry you in this direction? Who can help you achieve these goals? What messages will convince them to offer support?

A print ad from the UNDP-Publicis Water
Alert Campaign. On 10 November 2006,
UNDP and Publicis Italy launched a campaign
to garner support for universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation. UNDP's 2006
Human Development Report, Beyond scarcity:
Power, poverty and the global water crisis,
focused on the lack of access to clean water
and sanitation that billions of people around
the world face. The international advertising campaign aspired to garner support for
universal access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Newspapers and magazines in the developed world were invited to join the water campaign by publishing free-of-charge the campaign’s four print ads, designed pro bono
by Publicis.

The tactics you use as part of the campaign depend upon guidelines such as:

• Does the tactic suit your objectives?
• Can your office manage it?
• Does it fit with UNDP values and rules?
• Do you have past experience with it?
• Will it reach the target group(s)?

Individual UNDP offices also need to consider national issues. Some campaign tactics may be more appropriate than others. Public demonstrations and litigation, while popular campaign tools for non-governmental organizations, are not options for UNDP.

Larger campaigns should have a punchy slogan that encapsulates the key message in a few words, along with a logo and common design standards for campaign materials. A consistent visual identity and slogan reinforce recognition and awareness.

Examples of campaigns in which UNDP has been involved include the UN Millennium Campaign and Teams to End Poverty. The Millennium Campaign rallies the efforts of youth, parliamentarians, trade unions, local authorities and others around the MDGs, with activities from hitchhiking tours to national youth consultations.

Teams to End Poverty, launched by UNDP Geneva, calls for public involvement in anti-poverty actions. Fifty celebrities, including the football stars Ronaldo and Zidane, have appeared in advertisements in more than 200 major media outlets. Two stars appear in each ad, with their names and the tagline ‘together against poverty’. Eight world-renowned filmmakers are producing short films on the eight MDGs, two of which debuted at the 2006 Cannes Festival; click here to learn more about the film project.

For an example of an advocacy campaign in a specific country, see Albania’s Small Arms and Light Weapons Collection Strategy. A general resource on campaigns is the MDG Campaigning Toolkit. The concept paper and launch strategy for UNICEF’s Children and HIV/AIDS Campaign provide models of basic techniques.

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