Results and Effectiveness

On 20 November 2009, more than 29mil people in Malaysia tuned in to children on various media channels, hosting talk shows, interviews, infotainment, documentary, public service announcements - even prime time news anchoring - in English, Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia. The media reported over 4.3mil TV viewers, over 13.6mil radio listeners and above 11.2mil readers of Malaysian dailies and magazines. Over RM6mil worth of advertising value equivalent was generated. Best of all, the Malaysian government is lifting its reservation on Article 13 of the CRC - a Child's Right to Expression. A feat that took 15 years of waiting, began with the voice of a child.

Creative Execution

Zooming in on Article 12 in the CRC which states that 'Every Child has the Right to be Heard', we used the simple act of listening to a child as the first step to introduce children's rights to adults. How? By dedicating one day for children to express their rights, hopes, fears and dreams to the entire nation. Aptly themed 'Tune In To Me', the campaign rallied the support of the Malaysian mass media to make way for children to take over the airwaves across the country. They anchored the news. Hosted talk shows. Conducted interviews. Hijacked radio programmes. Even the Prime Minister of Malaysia had to make time to have a dialogue with the children. A massive integrated advertising and activation campaign was launched prior to that day, to prompt people to tune in to children on 20 November 2009.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In 2009, UNICEF wanted to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in Malaysia in a significant way by getting the public to acknowledge children's rights. But with major threats such as the H1N1 pandemic, earthquakes and other natural disasters happening around the world that year, children's rights were the furthest from people's minds. How do we create a simple act that will allow adults to better understand that all children have rights?