Across Europe and Central Asia, UN Women is awarded for its groundbreaking communications initiatives

Date: Monday, 30 June 2025

This year, UN Women, the youngest UN organization, proudly celebrates its 15th anniversary. As the UN’s engine for gender equality and women’s rights, we are here to deliver for the women and girls across Europe and Central Asia region.

One of the many ways we do this is through communications campaigns and initiatives designed to shift attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions about gender equality and women’s rights. Over the past 15 years, we have conceptualized and implemented thousands of communications campaigns across the Western Balkans, Central Asia, and Eastern Partnership countries aiming to reach broad audiences. In this milestone year, several of these initiatives have received prestigious international awards, recognizing the impact of our work on the lives of women and girls we serve.

Georgia

In Georgia, UN Women Georgia has received three Bronze Awards and four shortlists at the Kyiv International Advertising Festival (KIAF) for the awareness-raising campaign “Change Requires the Voices of Women”.

Aiming to raise public awareness and mobilize support for women's increased participation in decision-making, the "Change requires voices of women" awareness campaign by UN Women Georgia receives Bronze Award at the Kyiv International Advertising Festival (KIAF).

The campaign aimed to raise public awareness and mobilize support for women’s increased participation in decision-making. It combined compelling facts and data with real-life stories and experiences of women politicians and activists from different generations. The campaign also showcased the contributions of women to Georgia’s progress and development since the 19th century, highlighting that the pursuit of gender equality and women’s leadership is deeply rooted in Georgia’s history and traditions.

UN Women Georgia's award-winning "Change requires the voices of women" campaign nods to women who have contributed to Georgia's progress since the 19th century.

As a part of the campaign, four stand-up shows on women’s empowerment were held in Tbilisi, Kvareli, Kutaisi, and Batumi. The campaign reached over one million people on digital platforms and was covered by more than 12 leading media outlets, including top-rated TV channels and popular online media platforms.

The campaign was implemented by UN Women, in collaboration with the digital creative agency Leavingstone, within the framework of the projects “Women’s Increased Leadership for Democracy in Georgia” and “Support for Georgia’s 2024 Parliamentary Elections”, with the support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kazakhstan

In Kazakhstan, the social initiative “Saltanat Light” - an innovative digital project addressing domestic violence - has received a Silver Lion at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the “Real-Time Contextual Content” category and Bronze Lion in the “Gender Equality: Sustainable Development Goals” category. Blending technology with cultural heritage, this project features a vintage 1960s neon sign labeled “Saltanat” in Almaty that normally shines scarlet but begins flashing when domestic violence alerts are triggered.

The initiative, created by the private company CITIX in partnership with UN Women, received the first Cannes Lions award of its kind in Kazakhstan. Since its launch on April 7, 2025, “Saltanat Light” has responded to over 1,500 domestic violence cases.

Moldova

In Moldova, the “Do you see me?” awareness campaign, launched in 2024 during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, was recognized with three major awards at the COMMA – Communication Awards 2025, in Bucharest, Romania.

The campaign received a Gold award for Strategic Excellence and Best Social Cause Campaign, and a Silver Award for Best Creative Communication Campaign. Reaching more than 1,9 million people across digital platforms, the campaign used art as a powerful storytelling tool by placing 16 life-sized sculptures of women survivors of violence in public spaces in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. Each silhouette featured a QR code linking to an interactive landing page, where visitors could explore the untold stories of survivors of violence.

The initiative was implemented by UN Women Moldova in collaboration with the Government of the Republic of Moldova and the National Agency for the Prevention and Combatting of Violence (ANPCV), with financial support from the European Union, Sweden, and Denmark.

Türkiye

In Türkiye, UN Women received multiple awards at the prestigious Crystal Apple Awards, organized by the Turkish Association of Advertising Agencies, for the #ShineALight Campaign. Launched during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence in 2024, the campaign, developed in collaboration with one of Türkiye’s top three creative agencies, Ogilvy 4129, aimed to raise public awareness about the pervasive insecurity women feel in all aspects of life, the violence they endure, and the daily fears they face. To this end, the campaign transformed public spaces into powerful platforms for advocacy.

As part of the campaign, sports teams such as FC Heidenheim 1846 e.V. and Istanbul Başakşehir Sports Club displayed campaign visuals during matches. Outdoor advertising (such as banners, posters, subway applications etc.) in Istanbul and Ankara achieved 7.75 million impressions, while high-impact digital content was featured on platforms such as TRT and Sözcü. The participation of sports teams emphasized the role of men as allies in ending violence against women, while digital campaigns reached over 7 million people.

Aiming to raise public awareness about the pervasive insecurity women feel in all aspects of life, the campaign transformed public spaces into powerful platforms for advocacy.

The campaign won a number of awards, including the Grand Award for Photography; the Crystal Apple Award for Gender Equality in Advertising; Crystal Apple Award for Photography; the Silver Award for Social Responsibility - Integrated campaign; the Bronze Award for Social Responsibility; and the Bronze award for social responsibility for the online video “Safety is not a privilege, it is a human right,” featuring renowned artist Hare Sürel.