Campaigns

Simavi runs several communication campaigns every year to draw the attention of the general public to the importance of health in developing countries and the role of mothers in this. These campaigns contribute to the political and social support base for these themes and also to the familiarity with Simavi and appreciation for its work. We ran three large campaigns in 2011.

Safe drinking water

In March 2011, the main theme was ‘Safe drinking water’. This tied in with the Walk for Water event for school children and the World Walks for Water. Antje Monteiro visited a Simavi project in Kenya and kept a web blog of her visit. All these activities generated a lot of media attention.

Walking six kilometres with six litres of water on your back. Quite a feat for more than 10,000 7th and 8th grade schoolchildren who participated in the Walk for Water on 23 March 2011. The six kilometres and six litres stand for the average amount children in developing countries have to carry for the daily water supply for their family. A guest speaker also visited the schools to talk about the necessity of safe drinking water and good hygiene in developing countries.

Walk for Water – an initiative by Aqua for All – was organised in conjunction with the international World Walks for Water day, which took place for the 18th time in 2011. A total of 152 schools and 10,500 pupils participated for Simavi, a significant increase compared to 2010, when 94 schools and 6,300 pupils participated. The pupils had themselves sponsored and collected the huge amount of EUR 220,000. The initiative was also supported by water companies Dunea, PWN and WMD and by the Zuiderzee museum, Museon, COS Zuid-Holland and Natuur en Milieucentrum Weizigt. This event enabled Simavi to reach 2.9 million people by way of free publicity.

Maternal mortality

In September, we focused on combatting maternal mortality. This theme tied in with the Relay for World Mothers. Wieke Biesheuvel, columnist for Libelle (a Dutch woman’s magazine), went to a programme in Nepal with Simavi. She reported on her experiences in her column. Libelle also organised a puzzle marathon, the proceeds of which (more than EUR 40,000) went to Simavi. Antje Monteiro recorded a radio commercial that was broadcast in September.

The Relay for World Mothers not only increases the political support base for reducing maternal mortality but Simavi also brings this theme to the attention of a large number of people and we ask them to actively participate.

There is a lot of support for the Relay for World Mothers from the 15 participating Millennium Municipalities. They are the hosts and think of fun activities to involve their inhabitants in reducing maternal mortality. The woman’s magazine Esta, a Simavi partner, brought the Relay to its readers’

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attention. The chief-editor posted an appeal to participate in the Relay and a special insert was added to the magazine.

What have we achieved?

More than 150 Esta readers drove to 15 municipalities in the Netherlands in eight Volkswagen

vans from 23 to 27 September to support the Relay.

The 15 municipalities hosted the Relay and contributed a total of EUR 14,500 to a project by Simavi focused on safe pregnancies in Bangladesh.

More than 2,500 mothers and pregnant women submitted a photo against maternal mortality. We reached 11 million people through the media; by campaigns on the Relay and urgency of the maternal mortality problem.

The Relay finished on 28 September at the square in front of the Lower House in The Hague. Rolien Sasse, CEO Simavi, made an appeal to the members of the Lower House present to discuss the cutbacks in the upcoming debates on the budgets. She then presented a Gouden Ooievaar (Golden Stork) to Ewout Irrgang and Kathleen Ferrier who are members of the Lower House and

chairpersons of a multi-party initiative committed to SRHR and reducing maternal mortality. During the budget debates in November 2011, the State Secretary reversed the cutbacks of EUR 35 million and indicated that he would allocate an additional EUR 8 million for the theme.

Adopt a world mother

We started with Adopt a World Mother (Adopteer een Werelmoeder) in 2011. This is Simavi’s first online fundraising activity. Regular e-mails allow donors to follow a number of pregnant women in Bangladesh. This enables them to see what it is like to be pregnant in a developing country. Together with the magazine Esta, Simavi drew attention to this programme. Mylou Frencken, Esta columnist, visited a Simavi project in Bangladesh. By the end of 2011, almost 300 mothers had received support. The response is very positive. Adopt a World Mother will therefore be further developed in 2012.

In November 2011, Simavi and photographer Huib van Wersch organised a photo exhibition on World Mothers. The photographer’s 18 enlarged photographs gave the visitors a crystal clear image of the Simavi project for safe pregnancies in Bangladesh. Each picture tells a unique story.

TABLES RESULTS INVOLVING THE NETHERLANDS IN DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION

Public campaigns Result

2010 Goal 2011 Result 2011 Mass media campaign Brand recognition 27% 28,5% 23% Appreciation 50% 51% 51% Media reach 11,920,236 20,000,000 24,534,545 Free publicity 18,012,452 10,000,000 20,500,000

Walk for Water Schools 94 100 152

Pupils 6,300 6,500 10,500 Free publicity 1,900,000 2,000,000 2,9000,000 Relay for World Mothers Municipalities 14 14 15 Media reach 12,500,000 11,000,000 1,000,000 Signatures / Photo uploads 6,000 2,000 2,500

Note: Simavi also participates in campaigns with other development aid organisations. Because the results of these campaigns are a joint effort, they are not mentioned in this table.

Means of communication Result 2010 Goal 2011 Result 2011

Annual Report (score Transparent Price) 7.8 (AR 2009), 11th position 7.6 (AR 2010) 7.5 (AR 2010), 16th position

Newsletter (print run) Business 1,700 - 2,200

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Collector 16,000 - 13,500

Website (unique visitors) 24,390 30,000 35,876