Social media campaign to support peace keeping efforts

Social media campaign to promote

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

by Jayne Cravens

In 2017, a United Nations agency recruited candidates to be in a roster ready for deployment as Digital Media Officers. Part of the requirements for applicants who made it through the first round of the vetting process was to create a social media campaign in just two hours designed to promote the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in a mythical country.

Below is my successful submission that helped get me into this UN roster. Again, please note that I had just two hours to create both this strategy and sample graphics to use in this campaign for this mythical country, which was described as landlocked country with a history of sporadic fighting and violent tensions, a government struggling to stay functional amid hostilities and violence, and with three different ethnic groups making up the majority of residents and most being either Muslim or Christian.

Proposal for a social media campaign to support
International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in Andeb
May 29, 2018
For UNSAMA-United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Andeb

Theme:
Everyone, Together, For Andeb
#togetherforandeb

This proposed social media campaign is designed to:

promote the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers in Andeb

highlight and promote the work being done by UN Peacekeepers on behalf of Andeb
augment messaging by various UN agencies in Andeb regarding peace, regarding inter-cultural understanding and shared values in the country across different religious and ethnic groups, and regarding the essential role of women in ensuring a prosperous, safe Andeb.

Platforms and tools to use:
— Twitter
— Facebook
— Flickr
— Instagram
— YouTube
— Vimeo
— UN agency field office blogs

In addition, the messaging will be crafted such that it can easily be adapted for use by
— Communications staff at various UN agencies
— UN HQ communications staff outside the country, including blog writers, for blogs and articles about Andeb
— international media
— independent bloggers, as well as users of other platforms, such as Snapchat
— Andeb government offices
— Andeb religious institutions
— Andeb NGOs

These groups will be approached to talk about the theme on their own, using appropriate the official hashtag, #togetherforandeb, as well as other appropriate hashtags and keywords.

Target audience:

These audiences will receive the messaging directly via social media, either directly from the UN mission or via a retweet or reposting by another social media user:
— Social media users in Andeb (these will be, primarily, people under the age of 40, including many teens and people in their 20s)
— Social media users outside of Andeb that have an interest in the country
— Media based in Andeb
— International media that have a focus on Andeb
— UN agencies in the country
— UN HQ offices outside the country that have initiatives in the country

Non-social media users will receive the messaging offline via press coverage, family and friends that tell them about the campaign verbally or in traditional media (newspapers, radio or TV).

Specific outreach will be made about the campaign and how to leverage it to women’s-focused NGOs and initiatives in Andeb.

Messaging

The theme for the campaign is:

Everyone, Together, For Andeb
#togetherforandeb

All social media messages on any platform associated with this campaign should use this hashtag.

The hashtag for International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers is #InvestinginPeace, and this tag should be used on all social media messaging as well, so that such messaging can be found by all those looking for activities in association with that day globally, not just for Andeb (note: there will not always be room on tweets for this additional hashtag).

Photos, videos and other imagery should emphasize at least one of the following messages:

— the multi-ethic, multi-religious nature of Andeb
— the social inclusion or essential role of women in Andeb, both in traditional roles of motherhood and in other roles (student, farmer, rancher, worker, merchant, business owner, professional)
— UN Peacekeepers helping in Andeb specifically in some way.

For instance, imagery that shows members of the three majority ethnic groups talking together, or members of both the Muslim or Christian faith together, as friends or neighbors, would support the theme: Everyone, Together, For Andeb.

Examples of tweets that could be sent as part of this campaign:

Andeb youth work together with UN Peacekeepers for peace & security in their country. #togetherforandeb
(with photo and link to a web site or blog with more information)

Andeb Muslim & Christian religious leaders share a meal with UN Peacekeepers, discuss issues. #togetherforandeb
(with photo or short video clip, and link to a web site or blog with more information)

Women talk with UN peacekeepers.
#togetherforandeb #InvestinginPeace
(with photo and link to a web site or blog with more information)

Examples of visual messages to share on social media:

Monitoriing & Evaluation

The campaign will be monitored through:
— use of Google Alerts to monitor various keywords and phrases used in media, including blogs
— searches on specific social media platforms for the official hashtag for the campaign, #togetherforandeb
— searches on specific social media platforms for various keywords and phrases, such as the words Andeb and peace, or Andeb and peacekeepers

While number of social media messages and number of “likes” and “retweets” are important and will be tracked, it will be equally important to monitor responses to the campaign, both in number and in what those responses say. If the campaign results in two people from different religious groups in Andeb having a positive exchange on our Facebook page, for instance, that is worth highlighting and celebrating as much as 100 retweets.

A caution to keep in mind:

These are delicate tasks, fraught with risks; a communications misstep, such as being seen as favoring one side or another, can lead to misperceptions, misunderstandings, feelings of disrespect and a derailing of the entire process. Different ethnic and religious groups in Andeb have different beliefs about history and current events in their country.

However, not undertaking communications activities to support peace-building, inter-cultural understanding and reconciliation activities in Andeb would be far worse, as negative messaging on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, blogs, other social networking platforms and online discussion areas – is plentiful and hostile to reconciliation and social inclusion efforts in Andeb. Therefore, outreach via social media support social inclusion, tolerance and peace-building activities is vital to ensure those activities are successful and to offer a counterpoint to negative messaging by potential peace spoilers.

The peace process in any country is a long and nonlinear. This strategy will not work on its own to reach the goal of unity in Andeb. However, it can play an essential role in the overall strategy to bring peace and prosperity to the country.

Contact

If you know more about this or other social media campaigns with which I have been involved, please contact me, Jayne Cravens.

Also see:

Lessons from onlinevolunteering.org
Some key learnings from directing the UN's Online Volunteering service from February 2001 to February 2005, including support materials for those using the service to host online volunteers.

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