Lourdes Tejedor
Negocio responsable, Telefónica
In the post Are the Millennium Development Goals being met? Part I we said that there is still a lot to do and that we do not know what will happen after 2015. It is true that we don’t know. The good news is that it is in our hands: the United Nations is giving citizens a voice so that the future of the global development agenda post 2015 comes from an open and consultative process.
For that reason, MY World has been set up,a global survey to build a better world. Today, the new communication campaign for promoting MY World worldwide has been presented in Madrid with the support of Telefónica.
Amalia Navarro, head of the ‘Speak out at the United Nations’ campaign and Alberto Andreu, director of Corporate Reputation and Responsibility at Telefónica.
The survey, which only takes 30 seconds, lets you choose the six areas of action —from a total of 16— that, in your opinion, would represent a major improvement in your life. You can also add another issue that you consider a priority. It is anonymous and you only need to specify you gender, age and country.
THE BAN KI-MOON PODIUM
Developed by the MC Saatchi agency, the element of reference in this campaign is the MY World Podium, a podium signed by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the UN, from which citizens can symbolically ‘speak out at the United Nations’, voting and sharing their photo on social networks with the hashtag #UNpodium to invite their followers and friends to take the survey. The podium will be in Telefónica’s flagship store in Madrid (Gran Vía) for two weeks and then it will travel to Telefónica’s flagship store in Barcelona.
EDUCATION, THE ISSUE WITH THE MOST VOTES
More than one and a half million people in 194 countries have completed the survey online, in-person or via mobile phone.
From the National Youth Service Corp in Nigeria, women refugees in Rwanda, people living in the slums in India, digital activists in Brazil, people with HIV in Iran to a group of young people in Canada… have taken the floor. For example, thanks to this power, in a country like Yemen, with 24 million inhabitants, 121,000 people have already voted.
Up until now, the priority issues for citizens —see the results in real-time on the website— are a good education,better healthcare, an honest and responsive government and measures to support those who cannot work (employment). The first issue has already surpassed one million votes.
According to the United Nations, the dominance of the votes for education and health reveals the continued relevance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, the results also indicate that people are highlighting new issues that must be tackled, such as ‘an honest and responsive government’, ‘better job opportunities’ and ‘protection against crime and violence’.
GLOBAL CAMPAIGN
This communications campaign can be seen in Spain first, in Telefóncia’s shops and in various train stations —thanks to the support of ADIF— and on some university campuses and public spaces. It will then be implemented in Latin America and Europe with the support of Telefónica and in the rest of the world with the backing of the United Nations and its partners.
To follow MY World on Twitter and join in the debate through this channel: @MYWorld2015 and #post2015
VOTE HERE
This post has been originally published in Spanish in the CR and Sustainability Telefónica Blog.
