International Solidarity Foundation, a Finnish NGO battling female genital mutilation in East Africa, was losing funding and awareness amid global challenges. With nearly non-existent marketing budget, and work revolving around the sensitive topic of FGM, traditional advertising would be highly inflammable. Their only choice was to choose a groundbreaking strategy in making an impact. Instead of typical charity pleas to the public, they decided to turn the focus on a global institution built to protect humanity's heritage, leveraging the impact through PR: on 11 October the ISF submitted an application to UNESCO seeking World Heritage Site status for female genitalia.

Working to prevent female genital mutilation in East Africa, ISF was facing funding loss. The NGO itself and the difficult subject had been buried under massive global and national issues. Yet, FGM is a deadly tradition devastating lives as we speak. Every minute six girls are mutilated. There are 200 million women and girls in the world who have gone through it. Each year 44 0000 women die of the consequences of FGM. It is one of the most blatant human rights violations hindering the economical, cultural ja social development of millions of people and communities. In the autumn of 2023, ISF was running out of options to fight this issue. They needed Finland, the target countries, and the world to wake up to the issue – and secure their funding for the future.

Female genital mutilation is currently punishable in Finland under the Criminal Code as a form of assault. However, the applicability of the existing legislation to all forms of mutilation is unclear. In the spring of 2021, the Finnish Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee tasked the Ministry of Justice with clarifying the legislation on female genital mutilation, asking to criminalize all forms of FGM. The committee's request was based on a citizens' initiative under consideration. In February 2023, the Ministry of Justice published a report by a working group that did not propose any changes to the current legislation. This continued the ethos of disregard on an issue many Finns don't find relatable or as a grave problem that everyone should address.

In addition, in the spring of 2023 a new right-wing parliament was were elected to Finland, and the new government immediately announced it was going to cut development aid grants.

A small NGO without an established brand image or marketing budget was losing to bigger players and challenges (both global and national).

The subject of FGM is disturbing and previous campaigns had underperformed due to constraints by Finnish law, marketing rules and sensitivity regarding the stakeholders and beneficiaries.

Additionally Finns don't see the relevance of the issue and the willingness to donate is low.

As traditional advertising was out of the question, we needed this to break through the press and public organically. We needed to punch above our weight, and get Finns and institutions to realize the issues gravity – while avoiding victimization, othering, or racialization.

In addition to mapping the client's world, we consulted a DEI agency in order to understand the pitfalls of this topic. We analyzed and reviewed previous campaigns, both ISF's and competitors' to recognize the problematic parts. It all led to one conclusion: the subject needed to be taken to a new field, even an absurd one, to avoid the generic issues and find a new route to discussion. This called for a whole new strategy where attention and donations would be gained by reframing the brand as a fearless activist.

As we decided to shift the focus from traditional appealing to the public to capturing the interest of the press, the client was quickly on board. But when we decided to do this by turning our plea to an unexpected global entity of UNESCO, vast assesments of the possible outcomes had to be made. The positives always outweighed the negatives.

On the International Day of the Girl Child, Oct. 11th, the ISF turned to the guardian of
humanity’s priceless heritage, and submitted an application demanding the inclusion of female genitalia on UNESCO World Heritage List.

We prepared a comprehensive paper application along with cover letters, and submitted it both in paper and digital formats to the Finnish Heritage Agency, the Ministry of Education and Culture, and the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO – Finnish entities responsible for deciding which proposals are advanced to UNESCO's headquarters. Simultaneously we spread our message across 30 billboards surrounding UNESCO headquarters in Paris, and one in front of the Parliament of Finland. The act was documented as Finnish and English press releases which were then distributed selectively to chosen journalists as well as a larger audience. Everything followed the new strategy of leveraging the discussion around FGM in Finland and East Africa.

The campaign was addressed by Finland's major media, including Finland's largest news media, and the national public broadcasting company. It made front page news in Kenya's (a key target country) largest and 2nd largest newspapers, and 2nd largest TV channel. All with positive tonality.

It gathered 47 media hits globally with a reach of 31.3 million, and mentions increased by +420 % in social media. The Chair of the Finnish National Commission for UNESCO emphasized the importance of this call to prompt government officials and decision-makers to promote women's rights and discuss the extent to which UNESCO World Heritage sites represent individual state or regional identities.

For the ISF the campaign was a record-breaking success with donations increasing on all fronts: +58 % in online donations, +123 % in mobile donations, and most importantly +500 % in new monthly donors – securing their work for years to come.

The overall budget for the campaign was absolute maximum of 5000 euros. Eventually we used 1400 euros:

793,10 € billboards

350 € photographer

260 € papers and folders for the application