Civilians Are #NotATarget in Powerful New United Nations Campaign

Using one of the first Facebook Camera Effects, the United Nations launched a global campaign titled #NotATarget for World Humanitarian Day, Saturday, August 19th. The goal was to tell stories of civilians in war and conflict areas, while educating and engaging a global millennial audience to push for change.

The Facebook Camera Effect uses the Facebook Live and Camera platforms as an interactive teleprompter – allowing people worldwide to record and share the true stories of people affected by conflict who can’t speak for themselves. 

United Nations Messengers of Peace Charlize Theron and Michael Douglas and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Shakira and Orlando Bloom were among those using social media to stand with those civilians trapped in the horrors of armed conflict, which is the driver of most of the world’s humanitarian need today.

In addition to the Facebook Camera Effect, a 360-degree campaign will include global broadcast TV, contextual OOH placements, a global social campaign that includes participation from all UN agencies and partner NGOs.

All activity will drive to WorldHumanitarianDay.org, where people can sign a UN petition asking world leaders to do everything in their power to protect the millions of civilians caught in armed conflict.

The exact functionality for the Facebook Camera Effect, built by VML, puts the UN on the front lines of Facebook’s Camera Effects Platform. VML is the lead agency for the United Nations World Humanitarian Day.