Yesterday the group had a video conference with a panel of United Nations personnel to test the validity of their project concepts.
Panellists included:
- Chris Strebel, UNESCO
- Richard Maciver, United Nations Chief Executives Board - UNCEB
- Lara Srivastava, International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
- Pierre Conille, The Global Fund
- Jane Wallace, World Health Organization (WHO)
- Santiago Imbers, UNAIDS and previously SAFAIDS in Zimbabwe
- David Galipeau, UNAIDS
Feedback from UN on group projects and approaches includes:
- Keep your message clear and ’sticky’
- Ensure your objectives are clear
- Ensure the criteria for photography are clear. What are the themes?
- Make sure you know what the project benefits are to partners and stakeholders
- What is the USP? (Unique Selling Point)
- How does the sponsor organisation benefit from funding your projects?
- Be clear about how you measure project impact. Find the tangible elements and trade on them
- Know what budget you need.
- Let fundholders know about your contacts and networks
A few participants felt the UN personnel were ‘harsh’ in their assessment of the projects. Others felt it was simply a more ‘realistic’ approach, reflecting exactly the kind of ‘grilling’ any project applicant would get in a real life situation.
Incidentally, here’s David Galipeau talking at the LIFT conferencee in February 2006 on ‘How organisations are using new technologies to spread their message’.
