Raise Your Voice on Social Media, Change the World: Women’s Voice Project

In collaboration with Operation 1325, a NGO based in Sweden, we launched the “Women’s Voice” project in 2021 to support women in effectively using social media to raise awareness about their demands for equality and rights.

In the year 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted an important resolution: UN Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security. This document not only recognized the impact of war on women but also highlighted the crucial role of women in mediation processes and peacebuilding. However, as we marked the 20th anniversary of the resolution’s adoption, research on women, peace, and security, along with statistics showcasing women’s participation in peace processes, revealed a significant gap between expectations and outcomes. When examined in the context of Turkey, we observed a concerning trend of Turkey falling behind in meeting the demands for rights and equality of women within the framework of Resolution 1325.

Initiated with the principles and values articulated in the UN Resolution 1325 and the Sustainable Development Goals as a guiding framework, our project aimed to raise awareness on social media about women’s rights and equality in Turkey, inspiring concrete action and positive change.

Driving this impactful endeavor were 20 Women’s Voice ambassadors, consisting of distinguished academics, journalists, and artists. Throughout a span of 10 months, these ambassadors actively collaborated to create and circulate compelling social media campaigns, utilizing their expertise and creativity to champion women’s demands and aspirations.

The Women’s Voice Ambassadors

Burcu Karakaş, Evrim Kepenek, Mehveş Evin, Emine Uçak, Banu Tuna, Ayşegül Doğan, Seren Selvin Korkmaz, Esra Elmas, Pınar Akpınar, Dilara Gök, Şehnaz Kıymaz Bahçeci, Gülsüm Kav, Yasemin Öz, Hülya Tanrıöver, Elif Doğan, Alev Akın, İlayda Eskitaşçıoğlu, Menekşe Kızıldere ve Itır Erhart.

As part of this project, we organized monthly “Ambassador Meetings” to bring together ambassadors and experts for in-depth discussions on effectively using social media and exploring topics related to gender equality, peace, and sustainability.

With the assistance of a digital agency, we developed content for monthly social media campaigns. During these meetings, our objective was to enhance the ambassadors’ use of social media to contribute to advocacy for gender equality.

The social media campaigns addressed various themes, including Turkey’s Progress on Gender Equality: Driving Change, COVID-19 from a Gender Perspective: Women’s Experiences During the Pandemic, Women’s Political Representation and the Barriers They Face, Combating Violence against Women and Empowering the Women’s Movement, Bridging the Gender Gap in the Workplace: Measures and Incentives, Gender Inequality in the Media and the Role of Women Journalists, Climate Change from a Gender Perspective: Urgent Actions Needed, LGBTI Rights, Combating Hate Speech and Discrimination, Refugee Issues, Peace, and Security, and the Implementation of UN Resolution 1325.

Throughout the project, WE created 80 original content pieces, which led to a significant engagement from the audience. The campaigns resulted in approximately 3,000 story and post shares, reaching an audience of 2,820,969 people and generating a remarkable 6,890,300 impressions.

Here are our statistics:

Instagram:

Total Reach: 560,101

Total Impressions: 760,681

Twitter:

Total Impressions: 529,400

Total Interactions: 241,373

Facebook:

Total Reach: 20,927