The Communication Award Shortlist

Libya Strategic Communications Team, Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Our strategy in Libya this year was to support UN Resolution 1973, our role in NATO and the coalition to protect Libyan people, isolate Qadhafi, pressure him to step down and encourage those around him to defect. To do this with authenticity it was vital to work with credible partners. We developed relationships with the Libyan diaspora NGOs, organising a series of four events from May-July which brought ordinary Libyans who had witnessed Qadhafi’s atrocities to speak in confidence to our minister, Alistair Burt, DfID colleagues, human rights NGOs, top bloggers and tweeters on Libya and trusted UK and Arab press and TV contacts, who could speak credibly on their behalf.

The messages resonated with the target audience. People told us about the use of women and children as human shields, rape, kidnapping, snipers and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. These first-hand accounts cut through the fatigue of military statistics and gave the NGOs new impetus to publicly denounce Qadhafi – as well as the media new angles to investigate. The outputs – videos, blogs and media reports – reached and resonated with many thousands of people.

Following each event we captured the participants’ responses to these testimonies on film, which we released through fco.gov.uk and social media channels. When one Libyan was interviewed on Radio 5Live, he contacted us first for lines on government policy, and used them. This series of events cost nothing more than staff time.