The Blue Heart Campaign The Blue Heart campaign aims to raise awareness of human trafficking and position the Blue Heart to human trafficking the same way that the red ribbon is to AIDS. However, the Blue Heart is a relatively unknown symbol, and needs a story in order to serve as a bearer of meaning in the fight against human trafficking.

The challenge Human trafficking is a global crime that affects nearly every country in the world. As a global issue there is a need for global awareness, no country can solve the issue on their own. Therefore, people all over the world need to open their eyes to the issue. To do that, we have to put human trafficking on the agenda, both for the public and for the politicians. However, for most people human trafficking feels remote, distant and difficult to relate to. Something that happens to others. We need to create a story to make the issue relevant and urgent in order for people to care.

The story All people have dreams. While some dream of becoming the world’s best soccer player, others dream of a safe home or more time with their family. Every human being has the right to the possibility of pursuing their dream, regardless of its nature. Sadly, that is far from reality. At any given time, the dreams of 2.4 million people are shoved away, often under slave like conditions. Human trafficking is locking up dreams, and now it is time to take a stand.

What if your dream got locked up? Moving the focus from a collective of undefined victims of human trafficking to individual dreams, like yours and mine, that have been locked up.

#unlockmydream The Blue Heart campaign will collect the dreams of millions of people worldwide. By submitting their dreams, trough social media or by physically handing them over, people are given a chance to use their own dreams to force the world to take a stand against human trafficking. We will encourage people from all over the world to upload their dreams on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #unlockmydream. These dreams will be printed and locked up in large metal chests. Marking the start of the campaign, the first tweet will come from UN Directorate-General Ban Ki-moon, followed by UNODC ambassadors such as Nicolas Cage. The six large chests, branded with the Blue Heart and the hashtag, will be placed outside the UN headquarters in New York on July 30th 2014, the first International Human Trafficking Day. Everyone present at the UN event taking place that day will get to write their dream on a piece of paper and put it in one of the chests. The chests are then sealed. Every country in the continent is represented on the chest by a lock, that can only be opened with a certain key.

#unlockmydream #unlockmydream

The dream tour The six chests are sent to one continent each: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Oceania. The chest will tour the continent’s capitals. Outside the national parliaments people and politicians can write down their dreams on a piece of paper and put it in the chest. After a week the chest will continue to the next capital. At every location UNODC or its local partners will be present to answer questions and hand out information material. A global information pack will be created in order to facilitate local press outreach. The material can be translated and adapted to each market and will also include visual content, such as the Blue Heart logo, to be used by bloggers.

The routes of the chests can be followed on the Blue Heart Facebook and Twitter pages, where different colours indicate where the chest has been (blue), where it is now (red), and where it is heading (grey). On the social media pages you can easily donate money by clicking a link, that takes you directly to UNODC’s funding website, United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Human Trafficking.

Unlocking the dreams On June 30th 2015, 11 months after the start of the campaign, all chests will return to New York after having visited all capitals of the world, and once again be placed outside the UN headquarters. Upon the arrival of the chests the keys to the locks will be sent to every country’s head of government. By taking a selfie with the key, and using the hashtag #unlockmydream, the politician takes a stand to fight human trafficking and thereby opens their country’s lock. Sending out the keys provides an excellent opportunity to carry out traditional media outreach, such as local press releases and debate articles. This will further increase awareness among the public and put pressure on the governments to take action and unlock the chest. The campaign ends on July 30th 2015, on the second annual International Human Trafficking Day. The UNODC invites the leaders of all countries who have unlocked their lock for a summit on how to fight human trafficking and how to put pressure on the remaining countries. Each continent’s chest, filled with locked up dreams, will remain outside the UN building until the leader of every country has taken a stand and unlocked the dreams of millions of citizens.

Locked up dreams #unlockmydream