Public Campaigns about the MDGs since 2003

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Success and lessons learnt from selected DAC countries

By Ida Mc Donnell, OECD Development Centre

2003 was the kick-off year for public campaigns on the MDGs in a number of OECD-DAC members. So far, the highest water mark for public communication about the MDGs was in 2005 when development issues were high on the G8 agenda and the UN plus 5 Summit. Many of the campaigns had a development education component and an MDG focus became a criterion for ODA-financed development education activities by civil society organisations.

DAC members that have conducted a public campaign on the MDGs include Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Austria. The UN Millennium Campaign supported a very successful MDG Campaign in Italy which travelled to Spain, Germany and Portugal.

This briefing note will focus on:

> Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands because more information is available through evaluations and reflection by the campaign organisers. Nevertheless, the review of public opinion about the MDGs will also include trends from Finland and Denmark. Each of the campaigns were financed or organized by the government’s aid ministry/agency.

> UK, France and Canada are included in the public opinion analysis to compare, where possible, differences in opinion between countries where a campaign has or has not taken place.

Table 1. History of MDG Campaigns in selected DAC members

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