In September 2016, World Leaders will mark the first anniversary of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals; a plan to end poverty, fix climate change and address inequalities over the next 15 years. Issues like quality education, an end to violence, an end to child marriage and equal pay for equal work need to be top of every governments’ agenda in order to give the Goals the best possible start. They will only succeed, however, if they address the needs of the most marginalised first, particularly those of girls and women.
“How fabulous it is that after 20 years, the legacy of Girl Power is being used to encourage and empower a whole new generation” Victoria Beckham
Enter Project Everyone, which has convened the first Global Goals campaign for girls and women to fight for goals focused on girls and women. The campaign is being promoted on an aptly global scale with a fresh take on the classic Spice Girls “Wannabe” music video, which pretty much came to define the 90s and introduced the world to the notion of “Girl Power.” The campaign previewed the “#WhatIReallyReallyWant” film at the Cannes Lions festival recently in partnership with Getty Images and SAWA, the global cinema advertising association, but now, on the 20th anniversary of the iconic videos original release, the film is officially being launched to the masses and the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive.
The film reflects the voices of girls and women all over the world telling world leaders what Goals they ‘really really want’ to be achieved to help improve their lives. These include issues like quality education, an end to violence, an end to child marriage and equal pay for equal work. The film was previewed in Cannes at a seminar by SAWA called; “Power of Cinema to Drive Cultural Change,” ahead of its official online launch this week. This iconic awareness raiser will be in SAWA member cinemas internationally between July and September this year, with global distribution through Unique Digital, and will form part of a social media campaign calling on people to share a picture of #WhatIReallyReallyWant for girls and women.
“We’re trying to show how the Goals contain the answers to the world’s problems, from the refugee crisis to disease, humanitarian disasters to terrorism and war” Richard Curtis
Directed by MJ Delaney and produced by Moxie Pictures, with creative work from BBH London, the film features actors, singers and dancers from India, South Africa, Nigeria, UK and the US. The film and campaign calls on people to share a picture of #WhatIReallyReallyWant for girls and women and the visual response from around the world will then be presented to world leaders at the UN General Assembly in September. This demonstration of mass public support for the rights of girls and women will be used to engender new political and financial commitments from governments, in support of their commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals.
One of the most vocal supporters of the film has been original Spice Girl, Victoria Beckham, who said of the spoof video and accompanying campaign: “I think this film is a wonderful idea. How fabulous it is that after 20 years, the legacy of Girl Power is being used to encourage and empower a whole new generation.” Another supporter of the film is writer, director and Project Everyone founder, Richard Curtis, who added: “Last year the UN, Project Everyone and many partners launched a mass awareness-raising campaign reaching 3 billion people in just 7 days with news of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This year we’re keeping up the noise and going deeper, trying to show how the Goals contain the answers to the world’s problems, from the refugee crisis to disease, humanitarian disasters to terrorism and war. And especially focusing on the incredible importance of progress in the area of girls and women; Global Goals for Global Girls.”
