Between February 2015 and February 2016 I took a break from the agency life and worked as the Communications & PR Officer of an NGO. There I was responsible for coordinating and implementing the communication efforts - meaning everything from writing press releases to managing facebook pages to coming up with campaign concepts, tactics and messages and actually implementing them.
THE CLIENT: Centre for Legal Resources (CLR) / Centrul de Resurse Juridice (CRJ) - a human rights NGO, focused on defending the rights of persons with mental disabilities living in mental health institutions. www.crj.ro
THE CHALLENGE: Change the national law towards establishing an independent mechanism of unannounced visits in institutions for persons with disabilities, with the purpose of preventing abuses.
RESULTS: Following a 1-year advocacy campaign, on December 21st 2015, the Parliament passed the law proposed by CLR.
Scroll down to see details about THE CAMPAIGN.
Photo: Odeta Catană / CLR
MAIN CAMPAIGN TACTICS AND ACTIONS
- An online petition addressed to the members of the Parliament, asking them to adopt CLR's law proposal
- A national caravan featuring a photo exhibition/installation with photos from the "death camps" showing proofs of abuse and the inhuman living conditions
- Organizing public debates with everyone holding a stake in this matter - government and municipality representatives, NGOs, the media and citizens
- An online community on Facebook to constantly communicate with the public, keep people informed, mobilize people for certain actions like signing the petition and creating buzz
- Post cards with "photos from the death camps" that people can sign and send to their MPs with a message supporting the CLR's law proposal
- Collaborations with investigation journalists that wrote about human rights violations in institutions for persons with mental disabilities
- Media advocacy tactics, targeting the wide public and/or decision factors with the purpose of explaining the problems of the actual situation and the benefits of the law proposal (print ads in two national newspapers, SMS campaign targeting politicians before the vote etc.)
Online petition on de-clic.ro online campaigning platform - gathered approx. 11.000 signitures. Also promoted on flyers with a QR code and web link, offered during street events (photo exhibition). See it on facem.de-clic.ro/fara-lagare.
Online Facebook Community started in April 2015. 5.000+ Likes till December 2015. The facebook page was the main communication channel with the public, used to gather signitures for the online petition, to mobilize people for certain actions, to create awareness for various issues concerning persons with disabilities, like discrimination, abuses, solutions, how other countries approached or managed these problems, all with the final purpose of creating public support for the campaign's cause. Visit the page on facebook.com/ClinicaJuridicaMobila. (it's the same page but under a new name, for a new project)
Photo exhibition "Photos from hidden lives" - an itinerary exhibition with over 140 photos from institutions for persons with mental disabilities, depicting the lives of this vulnerable group. The exhibition visited 5 times Bucharest (NGO Fest, Street Delivery, University Passage, British Council and inside the Senate) and 7 other big cities: Targu Mures, Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Timisoara, Oradea and Sibiu. People could see the photos, find out about about the campaign, sign the petition and the postal cards. Each street event was followed by a public debate regarding the iessues of the campaign. (photo: Cluj-Napoca, June 2015)
The flyer featuring the petition's text and the link where people can sign when they get access to the internet. The flyers were distributed throughout the campaign, especially during the street echibition and other events.
Postal cards addressed to the members of the Parliament, that were signed by people who visited the photo exhibition and delivered to the MPs on the day of the vote, in support of the law proposal. 3.000+ postal cards signed at the end of the campaign.
Media investigations published within the campaign:
- Unul dintre cei implicați în dezastrul „Morții nimănui” de la Breaza și-a făcut un business identic lângă București – Ovidiu Vanghele, Centrul de Investigații Media
- Dana Gârbovan: „Magistraţii trebuie să primească training special în privinţa persoanelor cu dizabilităţi intelectuale“ – Ioana Lupea, jurnalist și blogger Adevărul
- În ”depozitele de oameni,” legea se joacă de-a viața și moartea – Andra Matzal, Think Outside the Box
- Amintirea unor morţi: Poiana Mare, 2004. Datoria Senatului României (I) – Ioana Lupea, jurnalist și blogger Adevărul
- Pastile pentru copii speciali – Oana Moisil, Casa JurnalistuluiOamenii nimănui | România furată – Ana Poenariu, Digi24
- Oamenii nimănui | România furată – Ana Poenariu, Digi24
- Oamenii nimănui | România furată – Ana Poenariu, Digi24
A week before the vote in the Senate's committees - a crucial vote upon the law before the final vote in the Senate - we bought a spread in Libertatea and Romania Libera - two national newspapers with big circulation. We communicated the shameful number of deaths of persons with mental disabilities in institutions ("The Death Map") and an infographic stating the human rights violations and the solution we were proposing. The plea ended with encouraging people to sign the online petition and keep an eye on the Senate's activity - the final decision maker regarding this issue.
Back cover of Libertatea newspaper issued on the day of the vote in the Senate's committees.
Find out more about the campaign on www.crj.ro/lagarele-de-langa-tine.
There you can see more photos with the street photo exhibition, photos from institutions and find full details about the campaign development and results.
“Death Camps Next to You” is a project initiated by the Centre for Legal Resources and financed through the EEA Grants 2009 – 2014, through the NGO Fund in Romania. For more details go to www.fondong.fdsc.ro.
