Dear Mr Naughton,
Apologies for the delay in getting back to you — I have been in meetings
for much of the day. Thank you very much for alerting UNICEF Headquarters
to this.
I have forwarded your concerns to colleagues at the German National
Committee for UNICEF, asking them to respond to you directly. Meanwhile, I
am also trying to reach individual colleagues in Germany in person, so that
we can respond to you today if possible — despite the time difference.
I can assure you that we take such issues very seriously at UNICEF, and
that we will get back to you as soon as we can.
With apologies once more for the delay, and with best regards
angela
For every child
Health, Education, Equality, Protection
ADVANCE HUMANITY
_______________________________
Angela Hawke
Communication Officer
Media Section
UNICEF New York
Tel: 1 212 326 7269
Cell: 1 917 605 1699
http://www.unicef.org/media
(Anmerkung:
UNICEF haben den Link, der zu besagter Kampagne führt, von ihrer Homepage genommen. So lange aber keine tatsächliche Einsicht herrscht (siehe Brief und Anmerkung von UNICEF Deutschland unten), empfiehlt es sich eventuell, UNICEF und ihre Werbeagentur weiterhin darüber zu informieren, wie Sie über ihre Sozialkompetenz denken, und warum die Mittel mit denen in diesem Fall Werbung betrieben werden sollte, falsch sind.)
*********
UNICEF Deutschland:
Dear Mr. Dalzine,
Thank you very much for your letter and your comments on the advertisment
for our “Schools for Africa” initiative. Please let me try to explain
context and message of the ad.
The German Committee for UNICEF has started a campaign to promote
child-friendly schools in six African countries in late 2004. This campaign
aims to raise awareness on the fact that nearly half of all children in
Africa lack even primary education.
With funds from private donors, since then 350 schools have been repaired or
newly constructed. In addition, several thousand teachers were trained and
school management improved. In total, some hundred thousand children and
young people have benefitted from this campaign since 2004.
The right to education for all children is a prerequisite to develop their
full potential and a basis for social and economic development. But still
many governments – including the G8-countries – do not stick to their
promise in the so-called “Millennium Declaration” to reach “education for
all” until 2015.
We therefore tried to bring the issue up to the agenda of the G8 summit
which took place in Germany in June this year. One element of our advocacy
work was this ad which was developed pro bono by Jung von Matt.
The idea behind is that children from Germany demonstrate their solidarity
with children in Africa by showing up with a coloured make up. Their message
is: “Children may look different but are equal – we all want to go to
school.” Absolutely no connotation of black children as “dirty children” was
intended.
Before publishing the ad, we had carefully discussed possible
misinterpretations and the agency had also tested public reaction in a
survey in Germany, without receiving negative comments. Neither did we
receive any negative reaction from the German public after publication.
The ad was published in a few high-quality print media like Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung, Spiegel, Die Zeit, Stern, free-of-charge. These media
had never volunteered to publish the ad if they would have expected a
negative connotation. Obviously, the perception of the ad varies by country.
There are no plans to promote the ad further as it was explicitly developed
for the G8 summit. Your remarks have caused us to drop it from our website.
We apologize if you feel irritated by the make up of the children. Please
rest assured that we take your remarks very seriously and will consider them
in any further communication.
Thank you for sharing your comments with us.
With kind regards,
Rudi Tarneden
Press Officer
___________________
German Committee for UNICEF
Hoeninger Weg 104, 50969 Koeln
Phone: +49 (0) 221-93650-235
Fax: +49 (0) 221-93650-301
E-Mail: rudi.tarneden@unicef.de
Web: *www.unicef.de*
(unsere Anmerkung:
Aus diesem Antwortschreiben geht jedoch klar hervor, dass keine Einsicht dahingehend herrscht, weshalb diese Anzeigen entwürdigend sind. Ganz im Gegenteil wird hier erwartungsgemäß betont, wieviel Gutes bisher erreicht wurde, und vor allem dass die Kampagne bisher angeblich nicht im mindesten als beleidigend empfunden wurde:
“Before publishing the ad, we had carefully discussed possible
misinterpretations and the agency had also tested public reaction in a
survey in Germany, without receiving negative comments. Neither did we
receive any negative reaction from the German public after publication.”
Uns ist jedoch bekannt, dass Organisationen, die anfang des Jahres konsultiert wurden, stark davon abgeraten haben, eine derartige Kampagne durchzuführen. Damals war noch geplant, Weiße deutsche Erwachsene braun anzumalen. Anscheinend gingen UNICEF und die Werbeagentur davon aus, dass eine Verhöhnung durch Kinder weniger schlimm sei (?). Da im Brief auch von “Missverständnissen” die Rede ist, können wir zu diesem Zeitpunkt leider nicht davon ausgehen, dass der grundsätzliche Kritikpunkt verstanden wurde.
Um also ähnliche Vorkommnisse in der Zukunft zu vermeiden, und auch um der deutschen Öffentlichkeit dahingehend Nachhilfe zu leisten, bitten wir alle Menschen, ihre Erfahrungen und Erklärungen an Unicef und die verantwortliche Werbeagentur zu schicken, die erklären, weshalb die Anzeigentexte dieser Kampagne sowie “blackface” (ob mit Dreck oder Farbe) diskriminierend und beleidigend sind.