The Swedish Millennium Campaign

The campaign had several purposes.
- To improve knowledge of the Millennium Development Goals and to clarify that Sweden has a commitment to contributing to their achievement.
- To create public opinion to make this possible.
- To strengthen public opinion in favour of fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals. Strong public opinion may also be seen as a tool for creating policy space, as well as making it easier for politicians to take the measures necessary for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
- To encourage, participate in and inspire cooperation at international level to contribute to strengthening global opinion in favour of the Millennium Development Goals. This facilitates the realisation of the goals.

Campaign objectives

The objectives of the campaign were:
- to keep the Millennium Development Goals on the agenda in Swedish politics and in current debates;
- to provide key groups with knowledge of the Millennium Development Goals;
- to create cooperation and opinion in favour of the Millennium Development Goals internationally and globally.

Strategy

The campaign worked as a catalyst. This meant encouraging the interest and commitment of key groups so that they in turn spread knowledge and commitment among their members. Public awareness was also created through advertising. Keywords for the campaign were communication, cooperation, coordination, coherence and creative thinking.

Campaign partners

The Swedish Millennium Campaign was supported by 85 organisations, private companies, institutions and authorities that have been engaged in linking their international efforts to the Millennium Development Goals via joint advertisements, joint seminars and participation in the common millennium portal, www.millenniemalen.se

Results

Articles on the Millennium Development Goals have been published in daily and evening newspapers and in the specialist press in the form of everything from small items to longer article series, with a circulation totalling 63,5 million from the start in 2003 to the end of 2005.

Advertising on the theme "The Chance of a Lifetime" in 2003-2005 has reached 5 511 000 Swedes.

According to the Eurobarometer survey (February 2005), 27 per cent of Swedes know about the Millennium Development Goals, compared to the EU average of 12 per cent. They responded to the question "Have you heard of the Millennium Development Goals?".

A survey conducted by the Swedish Institute of Public Opinion Research (Sifo) (December 2005) shows that 57 per cent of the Swedes are aware of the Millennium Development Goals. They responded to the question "Have you heard of the Millennium Development Goals, i.e. that poverty is to be halved by 2015?".