SGCA opens ‘Best Behaviour Change Campaign’ to public voting

The International Government Communication Centre, IGCC, a subsidiary of Sharjah Government Media Bureau, SGMB, has announced that winner of the Sharjah Government Communication Award, SGCA’s, 'Best Behaviour Change Campaign or Initiative' category will be decided by a public vote.

The move to introduce this particular category to public voting is in line with the IGCC’s efforts to generate community opinion and feedback on public campaigns and initiatives which are targeted towards generating awareness and driving positive behaviour change.

Three public awareness campaigns have been selected, one each by the Dubai Municipality, DM, Friends of Cancer Patients, FOCP, and Sharjah City Municipality, SCM, and put on the IGCC website for public voting until 10th March.

The voting has been launched by IGCC with a view to engaging the UAE’s public with the theme of the upcoming edition of the International Government Communication Forum, IGCF 2019, 'Behavioural Change Towards Human Development'. The eighth edition, set to be held on 20th and 21st March, 2019, at Expo Centre Sharjah, will assess the key role of government communication in promoting positive behaviour around issues of national interest.

The category is one of the 14 categories featuring in the sixth edition of SGCA, which seeks to recognise outstanding achievements and contributions made by local and regional authorities in government communication.

SGCA winners will be announced and honoured on 20th March during the first day of the 8th International Government Communication Forum.

Jawaher Al Naqbi, Manager of IGCC, underscored the importance of this vote and its role in achieving sustainable community development goals. She said, "The category aims to focus on the power of awareness campaigns to positively influence behaviour as a tool for human development. Modern communication technology makes it easier than ever for citizens to speak directly to our government, and through this public voting campaign, we seek to leverage the benefits of interconnectivity to boost public–government communication, so the latter can introduce new tools and mechanisms that can impact citizens positively and support their personal as well as community growth."

One of the key qualifying attributes of the selected campaigns was their ability to resonate with the public, manifested in attractive messaging capable of drawing on human emotion. The campaign’s use of technology and innovation to reach out to masses, together with its ability to achieve significant impact through media coverage of the campaign and its outcomes, was also assessed.

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