Despite being a 3000 year old civilization, there exists a peculiar taboo in Egypt, where men never disclose their mother’s names in public, fearing they could be shamed or ridiculed.

So much so, that mother’s names are forgotten over time, and they are only referred to as ‘the mother of her eldest son.’

To have someone take your name away from you, no less your own son, stands against gender equality and human rights in a modern and progressive society.

Starting Mother’s Day, UN Women wanted men across Egypt, to ‘Give mom back her name’.

We went down the streets of Cairo and asked men one simple question - ‘What is your mother’s name?

We took our findings and launched a film on social media with the hashtag #MyMothersNameIs, to begin an initiative for the men of Egypt starting Mother’s Day, to ‘Give mom back her name’.

It was picked up, leveraged and spread across every corner of the nation by Egypt’s mass media and on social media. This created a ripple effect of awareness, with Arabs debating the stigma across the world, which paved the way for debates on-ground in Egypt, at schools, community forums and the streets.

Due to political instability and social unrest in Egypt and the Middle East in general, gender equality and women’s rights don’t often find a prominent place in every day discussions and the issue is not discussed or debated as often or with as much impetus as it needs to be.

‘Give mom back her name’ became the Most Trending Content on Feminism & Gender Equality – Trendolizer

Women and Gender Equality groups across Egypt and the Middle East joined the conversation

Every leading newspaper and TV channel in Egypt, the Middle East and the world covered the issue, debated the stigma and spread the message.

But most importantly, they took the debate to the nerve centers of Egypt – The Schools, Community Forums and the Streets.

2nd most shared film on Facebook worldwide in less than 24 hours-Mashable

118 million regional twitter impressions

315 million regional facebook impressions

Worldwide Viral No.6 on 3rd Week March - Campaign Viral Chart, UK

Scores of Egyptian men, women and leading celebrities from both Egypt and Hollywood, questioned the stigma and revealed their mother’s names proudly in public, paving the way for real change.

The most unexpected result however, was not only that men gave mothers the right to their names, but that mothers stood for their rights themselves, for the first time.

At over 3000 years old, Egypt is one of the world’s oldest and prosperous civilizations. However, it is astonishing that despite its progress over the ages, gender equality is still rife.

There exists a peculiar taboo in Egypt, where men never disclose their mother’s names in public, fearing they could be shamed or ridiculed.

So much so that mother’s names are forgotten over time, and they are only referred to as ‘the mother of her eldest son.’

A name is a fundamental right for every person. And to have someone take it away from you, no less your own son, stands against gender equality and human rights in the context of a modern and progressive society.

Starting Mother’s Day, UN Women wanted men across Egypt, to ‘Give mom back her name’.

Our strategy was to primarily target males in Egypt. They were the agents of the change who we were aiming at. Our secondary target were mothers who would subsequently become more conscious of the taboo that surrounded their name

In Egypt’s urban areas, our target audience was more active on social media whereas in the rural parts, mass media was popular. We wanted to ensure we could create a talking point for both sections of society. We first seeded the film online from where it would subsequently be picked up, leveraged and spread across every corner of the nation by Egypt’s mass media and on social media. This would create a ripple effect of awareness across the Middle East region and beyond.

Finally, social media and mass media had to work hand in hand with an on-ground phase of the campaign – interactive outdoor, debates and discussions in schools, community forums and the streets, which would ultimately drive real change at all levels of the country.

UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.

UN Women, among other issues, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; empowerment of women; and achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace and security.

The ‘Give mom back her name’ initiative works for the empowerment and equality for mothers in Egypt and strives to give them back their basic human right – their own names.