No paper, no identity, no life
Background
UNICEF and the European Commission partnered with Rooftop to raise awareness on birth registrations in Africa.
6 out of 10 children in sub-saharan Africa do not have a birth certificate. Without a birth certificate, a child does not have access to the essential services they need. Without that piece of paper, they do not have an identity.
Challenge
Rooftop was contracted as the production agency to creatively highlight the importance of birth registration and its impact on children’s access to services and basic rights.
Solution
A street art mural was created by the talented artist, Steven Carter aka Joff, through a close collaboration with partners in UNICEF and in the European Commission, and displayed in Brussels city centre.
The mural was live created by the artist in one week. Each day, a part of the image was sprayed and added, allowing passers-by to see the evolution of the image, following the process and seeing the image emerging on canvas. The powerful artwork was displayed in Muntplein / Place de la Monnaie, one of Brussels’ busiest tourist spots.
With its 150 square meters, the mural was the largest painting ever commissioned by UNICEF, providing an apt sense of scale to a very important message for children everywhere.
The Result
Rooftop, UNICEF and the European Commission educated and engaged citizens on an important matter such as birth registration in sub-saharan Africa though unconventional, emotional and creative ways. The artwork creation was documented and shared on social media. Overall, the project reached 354.373 people on Twitter alone. The video showcasing the creation process was the most popular tweet on the UNICEF EU account.
Over the course of the two weeks, 660.000 people were directly exposed to the street art mural and its creation process. During the months following the launch in Europe, the street art mural will be also be displayed in several cities in sub-saharan Africa. These efforts are part of the EU and UNICEF commitment to find new and innovative solutions to ensure that children are registered at birth, increase birth registration and – through civil registration – help each child get access to fundamental rights such as education and health care.
Square meters
Twitter reach
People reached
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