Campaigns to End Violence against Women and Girls - Virtual ...

“Specific” doesn’t imply “unchangeable”: As the campaign is unfolding, its different
elements and the internal and external actors and factors influencing success need to
be constantly monitored. Substantive positive or negative changes may make it
necessary to adjust the objectives.
“Measurable” does not necessarily mean “quantifiable”: For example, in social
campaigns aiming for behaviour change, qualitative observation tends to provide a more
accurate picture of the complex processes campaigns may contribute than numerical
data.
Being “realistic” doesn’t mean being pessimistic: If a campaign is grounded in
robust research, a clear idea should emerge as to what can and what cannot be
achieved within the context and the resources available.
“Time-bound” is for planning purposes only: Time limits need to be adjusted as the
campaign unfolds (see also above, “‘specific’ doesn’t imply ‘unchangeable’”).
BEAR IN MIND: In complicated or complex situations with high uncertainty about the
causal relationship between what you will do and what it will achieve, SMART exercises
may be counterproductive. This applies especially to outcomes and impact. Instead, be
clear about who are your targets and why you wish to campaign for them to change.
Think creatively about how to influence them and get to work. In these situations, as a
counterpoint to light and creative planning, it is important to systematically and
rigorously monitor changes in your targets as they occur, in order to inform what you
do. See the section on Monitoring and Evaluation for a more detailed explanation.
Examples for clear campaign goals and objectives
The overall goal of the Women’s Caucus for the ICC (1996) was to ensure that
gender-based violence (GBV) linked to genocide, crimes against humanity and war
crimes would be fully recognized as an international crime before the International
Criminal Court (ICC). Its objectives were to ensure that (i) the Rome Statute, the
founding document of the ICC, included GBV among the relevant crimes, (ii) the ICC
Rules of Evidence and Procedure and the Elements Annex defining the crimes were
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Campaigns December 2011