Building on the enthusiasm of several thousands of Jordanians and 190 organizations mobilized during the Post-2015 agenda national consultations, in May the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator and the UN Country Team in Jordan launched the “Mark A Difference” campaign. Expectations are rising high as more than 300 volunteers are already on board to disseminate the MY World survey in schools and universities across the country, through popular fairs, shopping malls, public events, and approaching people in central avenues. “Of course I want to vote, but I also would like to help you make other Jordanians vote” (Mark A Difference volunteer, July 2013).
While almost 20,000 off-line ballots are travelling across the Kingdom ready to be filled, the top interaction is happening on the UN newly launched social media accounts. Twitter and Facebook captured the attention of prominent people as well as youth, in a total of 8,000 users from all over the country. No surprise then, that the campaign brought us new partners! Jordan’s number one hit music station, Play 99.6 FM, broadcasted 180 times spots on the MY World survey in one month, while 25,000 SMS-ads hit mobile phones screens across the nation. The highlight of this month is the announcement of an Instagram competition on the theme “The Future We Want”.
To pursue “Inclusiveness”, countless efforts were placed in creating sound communication tools and a comprehensive approach to ensure that ‘MY World’ votes are collected from different socio-economic groups, and geographic locations. A network of strategic partnerships with local organizations, NGOs, CSOs – with widespread branches – and media has been pivotal to raise further awareness on the Post-2015 dialogue with non-traditional stakeholders.
Youth volunteer organizations have been the core of the campaign in the reach out to local communities and urban peripheries. As an example, the partnership with ‘Family Kitchen’, an NGO providing free meals in rural areas and poverty pockets during the Holy month of Ramadan, whose volunteers kindly accepted to distribute ballots among their beneficiaries.
