Madrid, 06/15/2018 – A Vatican campaign on migrants and refugees has become an internationally-recognized best practice in promoting positive change in society through social advertising.
The twelfth edition of the International Social Advertising Festival or Publifestival made the award. The prize “Best Strategy in Social Action” was granted to the video made by the Migrant & Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting the Integral Human Development of the Holy See and produced by the agency La Machi Communication for Good Causes. The event took place on 15 June at the Fernando Rojas Theater of the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, with the participation of agencies and advertisers from all over the world.
The 3½-minute piece has Pope Francis explaining the 4 active verbs on which he proposes basing the actions of governments, organizations and citizens to engage the problematic of human mobility: to Welcome, to Protect, to Promote, and to Integrate.
The video was shown for the first time in December 2017 at the ‘stock-taking’ session for the U.N. Global Compact on Migrants (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico), and in the High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges for the Global Compact for Refugees at the Palais des Nations (Geneva). It has also been presented at U.N. headquarters in New York, among many other places worldwide.
During the award ceremony, Fr. Michael Czerny, SJ, Under-Secretary of the M&R section, stated:
“Pope Francis gives the Christian and indeed civilized response to the pressing needs of vulnerable people on the move. In images, music and movement, the video makes the Holy Father’s urgent appeal so real. We are happy to help this touching and indeed motivating message reach millions of concerned people everywhere.”
At the same gala, an award was also granted to a video-spot on the latest Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exsultate on the call to holiness in today’s world.
