In an unprecedented move, the United Nations has issued a global call to creatives to help combat fear and misinformation during the coronavirus pandemic.
Head of the World Health Organisation, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the world’s greatest enemy right now was not the virus, but fear, rumours and stigma.
In an open brief, the UN said it was critical to translate public health messages “into different languages, different cultures, communities and platforms, reaching everyone, everywhere”.
“We are in an unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply. We cannot resort to the usual tools in such unusual times. The creativity of the response must match the unique nature of the crisis – and the magnitude of the response must match its scale,” said UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.
The UN, in its call to action, said it needed to “meet people where they are, with a stream of fresh, innovative content which drives home the personal behaviors and societal support needed today. We are equipping you with WHO-provided knowledge and messages to spread”.
Creative solutions must reach across cultures, age groups, geographies and languages with imagination and ingenuity.
The WHO is looking for creatives of all types to develop social media, digital publishing, streaming video, broadcast video and radio campaigns in eighteen different world languages, all geared towards spreading messages under six different themes:
- Personal Hygiene
- Social Distancing
- Knowing the Symptoms
- Kindness Contagion
- Myth Busters
- Do More, Donate
The One Club for Creativity said the UN was “in need of strong, impactful messaging for all languages, cultures, communities and platforms — they need to reach everybody, everywhere”.
The brief can be accessed here.
