18 and 26 January 2023 - Asia Pacific exploring innovative strategy to garner general public advocacy on Ozone2Climate Action
National Ozone Officers (NOOs) of South Asia (SA), Southeast Asia (SEA) and Pacific Island Countries (PICs) Networks jointly discussed the 2023 Communications and Public Outreach Strategy through the two virtual consultation meetings on 18 and 26 January 2023. A total of 63 participants (39 females and 24 males) engaged in the virtual meetings.
Participants were introduced to new concepts regarding a full cycle of strategic communications, outreach development, and implementation. Significant components that were elaborated and discussed included: positioning, goal and objectives setting, audience segmentation, message framing, material production, dissemination, amplification, and monitoring and evaluation. The discussion on each component was productively participated by NOOs where country-specific context was reflected and incorporated into the regional strategy development.
“Building on the success from having conducted the Asia & Pacific Ozone2Climate Artwork Contest, we need to continue our efforts to raise regional public awareness and visibility of the Montreal Protocol especially the Kigali Amendment through innovative and impactful ways to ensure that the general public are well informed and take meaningful actions to help restore the ozone layer and mitigate climate change,” said Mr. Shaofeng Hu, Senior Montreal Protocol Regional Coordinator, UNEP OzonAction Regional Office for Asia-Pacific.
The public will be targeted and engaged on various platforms, including mass media, social media, as well as public events and activities. NOOs also exchanged ideas on the key messages and material production that will suit their needs of public interests. Youths were also identified as one of the main key target groups to be effectively advocated via social media influencers.
Moving forward, NOOs will finalize the 2023 Communications and Public Outreach Strategy and further discuss its implementation. Regular communications-related meetings will also be conducted throughout the year to ensure smooth and effective implementation, identify needs, and address any challenges that emerge.
Prior to the meeting, the NOOs were asked to share their previous achievements, foreseen challenges, and initiatives for 2023. This process enabled the Asia-Pacific Compliance Assistance Programme (CAP) team to conduct a communications-focused situational analysis as a basis for formulation of the regional strategy.
The meetings were organized by UNEP OzonAction in Asia-Pacific as one of its activities for 2023 and under the mandate of the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol.