Act for Equal
Project
#ACTFOREQUALPartners
UN WomenThe Brief
UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination and discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security. The year 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of the 4th UN World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), the international blueprint for gender equality and women’s empowerment. For this milestone year, UN Women launched the year-long Generation Equality public advocacy campaign in 2019. In light of COVID-19, the Generation Equality campaign was extended to 2021.
In this context, UN Women hired Project Everyone to lead a global video-driven engagement campaign to raise awareness of the Generation Equality Forum in Paris (30th June – 2nd July 2021) and its ambition and to create a youth-orientated social media activation to drive interest and re-energize public attention with the umbrella campaign #ActforEqual and build on the gender equality movement.
The Approach
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We produced the self-shot and archive footage film, Generations Together, that united inspirational people from across geographies, generations and sectors to deliver a key message; that we want to live in a world where women’s right are equal rights and where every girl and woman can make their voices heard and achieve their dreams. From 7 year-old Sama to renowned activists and leaders like Leymah Gbowee, and Chair of the Elders Mary Robinson to prominent figures such as Megan Rapinoe, Winston Duke and Jazz Jennings to grassroot campaigns; each contributing to the message of why we need to #ActForEqual.
Notable leaders, activists and celebrities in the film include:
- YouTube star, Jazz Jennings who is one of the youngest publicly documented people to be identified as transgender. Jazz’s #ActForEqual message is ‘we deserve to be treated equally and respected for who we are.’
- Peace activist Leymah Gbowee who is responsible for leading the Women of Liberia Mass Action for Peace movement that helped bring an end to the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. Leymah’s #ActForEqual message is ‘we need more women at the peace table’.
- Former President of Ireland, UN High Commissioner on Human Right and Chair of The Elders, Mary Robinson also joined the #ActForEqual campaign to share her message that ‘we shouldn’t have to smash glass ceilings.’
- TikTok influencer and author, Evie Meg who – through her educational and funny videos – raises awareness and debunks myths and stigma surrounding Tourette’s syndrome. Evie added her voice by saying ‘let’s break down barriers and change perceptions.’
The full cast list is: Sama Katurji, Hajer Sharief, Khothalang Leuta, Winston Duke, Megan Rapinoe, Nadine Gasman, Chamathya Fernando, Leymah Gbowee, Muniba Mazari, Zidane Cruz, Tatiana Calderon, Gitanjali Rao, Bonita Sharma, Kyzzhibek Batyrkanova, Tarcila Rivera Zea, Ixchel Maria Jose Lucas Adolfo, Delphine O, Mary Robinson, Cecilia Moyoviri, Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Jazz Jennings, Evie Meg, Sandra Sanchez, King Kaka, Dr. Denis Mukwege, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
The film was launched ahead of the forum across all UN Women, Global Goals and partner social channels. As the film’s call to action was for the public to respond and answer ‘Why Do We Need To Act For Equal?’ it acted as catalyst for public engagement with the Generation Equality social campaign #ActforEqual. To amplify the campaign further, we collaborated with TikTok UK to engage their creators in responding to the call to action and inspiring their audiences to do the same.
Why do we need to Act For Equal? To build a movement of young people, influencers, activists and leaders to be a force for change”
The Impact
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The Film and TikTok Activation:
The film garnered over 3 million views across all social media platforms, with 70% coming from Facebook. On TikTok, ahead of the Generations Together Forum the hashtag #ActForEqual was given prominence in the discovery page for a week – key real estate for any campaign. It generated 14.4 million views, 750 videos submitted for the challenge and 21.4k viewers tuned into the live stream featuring TikTok creator Solana Baptiste and activist Selin Ozunaldim.
The Forum:
The forum launched a 5 year action journey to achieve irreversible progress towards gender equality, founded on a series of concrete, ambitious and transformative actions, including $40 billion in financial commitments.