At the fringes of the High-Level Political Forus happening in New York, Forus organised a workshop on social media strategies and digital advocacy presenting various campaigns and initiatives around civic space, international cooperation and the implementation and monitoring of the Agenda 2030.  

As part of this year’s HLPF Forus releases its new report "Rebuilding Trust for Inclusive Governance” including an interactive social media campaign. With over 40 experiences from across the globe, the report investigates the current state of SDG 16 and provides recommendations for its implementation. Discover the social media toolkit with visuals, podcasts and report findings and join our launch event on July 8. 

During the Forus workshop joined by over 50 participants from around the globe and speakers from the Forus network of members and partners, several new campaigns and approaches were shared.  

Camilla Falsetti, communications lead at the European Confederation of NGOs working on sustainable development and international cooperation, CONCORD and a Forus member opened discussions on the importance of developing engaging and comprehensive social media kits to help push social media campaigns. Camilla highlighted the challenges and opportunities of their work, including limited resources, technical nature of content shared, lack of interest in international cooperation, and the crowded field of organisations working on similar issues. She also discussed a turning point in their strategy in response to the EU Commission's leaked briefing book, which led them to develop a successful social media campaign. The campaign simplified complex issues and mobilised their network thanks to an accessible social media toolkit, highlighting the importance of quick reactions, simplifying messages, and providing members with effective engagement tools.  

“We come from diverse backgrounds and possess different knowledge bases. It is our responsibility in communications to bridge this gap by taking the time to explain things clearly,” Camilla shared during the workshop. “We make our designs available for members to modify and translate into their own languages, enabling them to share these resources with their audiences.” 

Nigeria: Campaign and digital advocacy strategies 

Camilla acknowledged the challenge of information overload from excessive hashtag use and shared their ongoing efforts to optimize their messaging. The conversation then shifted to Oyindamola Aramide, communications lead at the Nigeria Network of NGOs, a Forus member, who talked about the success of the organisation's social media 2023 Covid19 vaccination campaign and what made it work.  

“We needed to engage various media platforms. We developed footage into short videos, infographics, and flyers, which were then shared across our social media channels. We used calendars to schedule and time the frequency of our posts,” Oyindamola said during the workshop. 

Oyindamola emphasised the importance of word-of-mouth engagement in their campaigns, which often resulted in significant follow-up actions, indicating a high level of engagement not reflected in the “social media statistics”. She shared with participants the importance of persistence in posting and targeting specific platforms and audiences. 

Oyindamola discussed their campaign aimed at improving the community's perception of COVID-19 in Nigeria. The campaign focused on increasing awareness about the availability and accessibility of vaccines, addressing issues such as vaccine hesitancy and inadequate distribution. The team aimed to amplify the voices of communities most affected by these issues and project the key barriers they faced in accessing vaccines.

They used multiple media platforms to engage with their target audiences, including traditional media, social media, and town halls, and emphasised creating simple yet impactful messaging. Oyindamola explained how the Nigeria NGO network uses a calendar and chat system to streamline communication processes, improving efficiency.  

The #SDG16Now Campaign 

Elena Marmo, communications and engagement officer at the TAP Network and a Forus partner, closed the day talking about the “SDG16 Now” campaign the network has engaged and reiterated the importance of using calendars to thematically schedule posts and ensure uniformity in media actions. She talked about the role the “16 Days for SDG16” toolkit played in pushing forward their objectives.

“We aimed to use the toolkit to highlight our priorities through social media and other engagement channels. Additionally, we wanted to mobilise the network of civil society organisations working in this landscape. Another objective was to strengthen our brand and presence on social media,” Emma said. 

As the world faces more conflicts than ever before, lack of access to peaceful, just and inclusive societies remains a great threat to sustainable development. The SDG16Now Campaign aims to build a more peaceful, just, and inclusive world and strong institutions for and with all people. The #SDG16Now Campaign priorities span across five themes: Peace, Justice & Rule of Law, Inclusion Civic Space & Human Rights, Institutions & Accountability, and Interlinkages & Financing. SDG16Now campaigning includes advocacy, communications and mobilisation to influence norms, policies and practices with partners working together at local to international levels through a common vision and coordinated activities. They are currently running a 16-day campaign for SDG 16 which you can join here. 

Engage!