Global Changemakers for the Middle East

Awareness Raising Network

Draft Framework
This document provides a guiding framework for the elaboration of the Mass Awareness
Network, one of the components of the Global Change Makers Project in the Middle East. The
document is in draft status, and serves to inform potential partners and to guide the planning
processes. Once the country-level partners and teams are in place and have had time to
review the document and adapt it to the local context, the document will be amended and
elaborated as the Mass Awareness Network' Strategic Plan.

Purpose of Awareness Raising Network

To empower a key group of youth with knowledge, skills and tools so they can enhance the
quality and quality of information available to youth of the region in order to help inform
decisions and choices they make now and in the future as adults.

Vision of Awareness Raising Network

To be recognised locally and internationally for:
• the high quality of information / messages that we disseminate;
• our cutting edge use of new media that empowers youth-to-youth dialogue
• our ability to reach out inclusively across potential social, economic, political and
geographical boundaries;
• this information to be used to help bring positive change in the region and beyond.

Strategic Objectives
• to strengthen the ability of youth to use a wide range of media tools to disseminate
messages of concern to youth in the region;
• to help create the necessary critical mass for young people to act collectively with a
common set of interests and to be a genuine force for positive social change;
• to increase access for young people to relevant information that will empower them to
make more effective decisions concerning their lives;
• to build networks and alliances between youth-led organisations in the region and beyond;
• to inform the broader community (non-youth) of the situation for youth in the region: their
lives, livelihoods, their aspirations, their problems, their solutions and their unique
contribution processes of development.

Rationale for the Awareness Raising Network

In the Arab region, the situation for young people is very challenging. Demographically they
are the dominant segment (100 million youth between 15 and 29 & 30% of the population).
They are diverse in their identities, their capacities and their potential. They all share
aspirations for an enhanced social, economic, and political status. They face a common
challenge: there are limited resources available, and they are unevenly distributed. Many
youth who wish to seize the opportunity for self-improvement face barriers related to their
status ( gender, class, religion, ethnicity, disability, citizenship etc).

A barrier to improving this situation is that the mass of people are not aware of the
seriousness of the problem, nor of the actions they could take that would allocate resources
more equitably leading to greater benefits for all. At the same time, there is often distorted
information concerning youth , portraying them as a problem, or as a dependent group that
fails to contribute responsibly to the region's social, political and economic development. In
particular, there is limited dissemination through the media of articles and programmes that
convey simple but effective messages about youth, that provide up to date data about their
lives and aspirations, and that persuade their audiences to act in their interest.

Increasingly, youth themselves want to have a far greater role in the production and
dissemination of such media messages. They have the skills to use a wide range of media
channels: drama, creative arts, writing and speaking. They have the further advantage that
they are able to access and use new technologies in order to make their message more
powerful and to reach diverse audiences. They simply face a temporary barrier – that they
don’t have enough access to technology support, and to public forums through the media.

Access to information is often unfairly distributed – those with more connections (wasta) get
more access about jobs, opportunity, resources etc. The more marginalised youth tend to
receive less diverse information and this in turn often leads them to reject alternative world
views simply because they feel excluded.

The GCM awareness raising team will reach out across the whole region, bringing messages
and information to some 5 million people in the 16 countries through mass media channels
and 100,000 face to face. Each country will recruit a core team of around 10-20 youth out-
reachers to lead the campaigns.

Background to the Project

The idea of an awareness programme was raised at the Learning from the Future forum held
in Dubai in April 2008. It was then proposed as one component of the Global Changemakers
Project for the Middle East & North Africa regions. The concept of the mass awareness
network was further developed in a meeting held in Doha (February 2009) which brought
together some of the young participants from the Dubai forum as well as a variety of
experienced civil society professionals and activists. As a result of these deliberations, this
framework was developed.

Proposed Awareness Themes

The awareness raising will be guided by the agreed themes and focuses. The regional team
will identify a wide range of possible mass awareness activities that will draw on the skills and
resources of youth locally, and will reach out to the widest possible audience either face to
face or indirectly through mass media. The focuses for awareness raising as identified in
Doha are:

Identity (young people- divided by stereotypes, united by difference)

• Breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes
• United in our differences, committed to change
• Be proud of who you are
• Celebrations of cultural diversity

Human Rights
• Citizenship
• Education rights
• Raising awareness about specific examples of human rights violations

Education
• Rights to education

Awareness Tools and Interventions

The most important aspect of this component is the use of mass media tools in order to
engage directly, and most importantly indirectly with large numbers of young people. The
youth themselves are confident that they can achieve the ambitious targets by using a wide
range of media tools as follows:

Talk based Information / content / opinion websites

• Dialogue sessions • Blogs
• Debating society • Mapping / GIS /
• Toastmasters • Hydeparks / live on TV
• Workshops and training • Forums and discussion groups
• Conferences, seminars / Lectures • Virtual café – hangout
• After-school activities • Opinion polls / surveys / petitions

Social networking websites Visual media / graphics / sound

• Facebook / linkedin / other • YouTube for video clips
• Facebook groups with a shared theme • Flickr for photo galleries
and focus • Podcasting / radio
• Chats • Comic strips / cartoons / caricatures

Commercial mass media outlets Exposure trips

• TV spots (public service announcements: • Going to different places
PSA) • Learning about other lives
• Radio jingles • Events in youth attractive places
• Adverts in cinemas before the show (clubs. Coffee shops)

Print media (read us, print us, see us, hear Mobile based
us) • Messaging key slogans
• Writing competition • Ringtones
• Letters to the editor / News articles • Using message to organise meetings /
• Press releases rally support
• Flyers / posers / supplements to • Taking mobile images of events (urgent,
newspapers youth, grassroots)
• E-magazine with clips • posting mobile pictures on sites
• Bi-lingual magazine • Twitter
• Journalism 'school' output •

Actions Events and entertainment

• Walkathons • Concerts/ shows / music
• Community meetings with youth focus • Theatre / drama / poetry
groups • Art / artists / graffiti
• Candle vigils • Comedy shows (comic relief, axis of
• Competitions evil…)
• Award ceremonies • Sports events / marathons / cylcing
• Flash mobs / carrot mobs / freeze and • The beach as a venue for events
focus
Donation drives Branding
• Money / fund raising for a case • Scarves / T shirts / badges / buttons /
• Gifts / donations bracelets
• Blood banks • Slogans / graffiti / messages
• Stalls at events • Logos
Consumer related Celebrity driven campaigns
• Boycotting goods • Patrons / Goodwill ambassadors
• Reward cards for pro-youth / youth • Star-based events (local heroes)
friendly shopping • sponsorship
• Corporate social responsibility
• Bazaars to sell goods and stalls

Awareness Network Structure & Roles

National Awareness Teams
In each country, working through local partners, a team of 10-20 young people interested in
working with the Awareness Network will be selected according to agreed criteria. They will
have access to the appropriate training programmes to prepare them to start working
together. Local experts and mentors will be identified from partner organizations or externally
to support the country teams. A number of training attachments will be made available for
members of the network both in the UK and in the region.
Role of National Awareness Team
• Identify the themes they wish to tackle, the focus that is most relevant to their country
• Identify and plan resources available
• Develop an awareness action plan
• Lead the awareness campaigns, drawing on country partner for support and guidance
• Coordinate with other national awareness teams
• Share / exchange information and knowledge at country and regional levels
• Work closely with their counterpart teams working on research and advocacy

Regional Coordination Team

A regional awareness raising team will be formed to direct and manage the work of the
Awareness Network at regional level. The regional team will include a member from each
country, elected for one year. Members will be eligible to be re-elected once only in order to
give opportunity to other members of country teams.

Role of the Regional Coordination Team

• Plan the awareness programme for the network at regional level
• Coordinate between National Awareness Teams
• Plan the regional dissemination of the information of country teams’ achievements
• Manage the joint collaboration of the Awareness network with similar UK and
international networks
• Assess training and internships

Role of Country Partner

• Identify youth to be part of the Awareness Network according to the set criteria
• Use their existing outreach to youth and youth leaders so that more youth can be
involved in the project
• Support and supervise young people in carrying their awareness campaigns
• Help young people in developing their part of awareness plan and make sure that the
national plans conforms to the regional agreements, and that agreed transparent
decision making is followed
• Support young people in identifying and applying for funding

Mechanisms of Interaction
Face-to-face -The network will rely on both face-to-face and virtual working. The national
team will have the opportunity to work face to face at the local level. They will be encouraged
to coordinate with other national teams virtually and by sending representatives/ exchanges/
to sub-regional training and forums.

Virtual meetings - Groups will be encouraged to use e-tools for virtual meetings (chat, skype
talk, facebook, messaging etc). Horizontal linkages between youth will be emphasized (i.e.
without passing through BC / NGO systems) to facilitate ease of information sharing, and to
increase the future sustainability of the network.

Working with the GCM AYRN and Advocacy Teams

The Awareness Network will work closely with the GCM teams working on research and
advocacy and recognizes that these two audiences have different needs, and they will
develop different communication strategies to ensure that their messages are transferred
effectively, leading to the desired response.

Selection Criteria of Young People

• Is able to inspire, encourage and motivate others to develop confidence to realise
their full potential
• Has good facilitation/training skills
• Is able to communicate easily with a broad range of his/her peers
• Excellent communicators through their chosen media (print, image, voice, drama,
blog, etc)
• Has the potential of taking a leadership role in his/her community
• Have a commitment to bring about positive change
• Understands & advocates equal opportunities, human rights & cultural diversity
• Recognises common cause between different groups and is able to build alliances of
interest
• Good at networking and relationship building