UNMC Brings 8 Million Peoples’ Voices to Bangkok, Thailand

ESCAP Youth Volunteers Celebrate 7 Million Voices and the Peoples' Voices Challenge!
ESCAP Youth Volunteers Celebrate 7 Million Voices and the Peoples’ Voices Challenge!

As “We the Peoples” Data Playground World Tour kicks into high gear in preparation for the 70th UN General Assembly and the announcement of the post-2015 development agenda, we showcased peoples’ voices through cutting-edge technology at the Asia Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development 2015 (APFSD 2015) and the 71st Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

From May 25-29, 2015, the UN Millennium Campaign, in partnership with UNESCAP, UN Volunteers, UNDP, P&G, and Samsung, hosted an interactive Data Playground. Delegates from around the world explored the MY World data, participated in the special screening of the virtual reality film, Clouds of Sidra,  reviewed the Humans of MY World (HOMY) photo exhibition, and were invited to join the Peoples’ Voices Challenge.

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APFSD 2015 delegates looking through MY World results
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World We Want data visualization fascinates delegates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diplomats, academics, ministers and delegates used Samsung touchscreen technology to disaggregate the MY World Dataset by region, country, gender, education levels, age groups and HDI and live data visualizations on the global, regional, and local post-2015 conversation on the World We Want were highlighted.

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MY World Asia Priorities

Out of the over 7.5 million people who have voted in the MY World survey, approximately 3.13 million people, or over 41%, are from the Asia-Pacific Region. Using data, policy makers were able to answer the question on everyone’s mind: what kind of world do Asians really want? They discovered in Asia that the top priorities are “A good education”, “Better healthcare”, and “An honest and responsive government”.

We believe that behind every MY World vote there’s a personal story that deserves to be told. That is why with the HOMY exhibition, we wanted to go one step further and look beyond the data to help policy makers understand WHY people have voted the way they have? What is the reason for choosing one priority above the other 15 priorities?

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Presenting the HOMY exhibition to the Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Prayut Chan-o-cha

Sponsored by P&G, the beautiful HOMY exhibition featured MY World voters from different backgrounds. A woman from the transgender community in Manila, the Philippines spoke to policy makers through HOMY. She chose “Freedom from discrimination and persecution” as her top priority because she “wants a whole world without discrimination. Being different means being hurt. On the inside, and maybe the outside as well. I pray it won’t always be like that.” We had the distinct honor to present the HOMY exhibition to the Prime Minister of Thailand, H.E. Mr. Prayut Chan-o-cha.

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Humans of MY World
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Executive Secretary of ESCAP H.E. Shamshad Akhtar Experiences Virtual Reality

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recently, we initiated a project to bring the world’s most pressing challenges home to decision makers and global citizens around the world through Virtual Reality (VR). VR allowed APFSD 2015 and Regional Commission delegatsd to meet a 12-year old Syrian girl named Sidra living in a refugee camp. Sidra took them on a tour of her new home, into her new classroom, and brought them to dinner with her family. As the first UN virtual reality documentary, we wanted to push the boundaries of empathy by bringing humanity to the front of the global development discussion. The VR film had a profound affect over her audience, one delegate said after watching that Clouds Over Sidra is the “most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life”.Bangkok 11

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Clouds Over Sidra brings audience into another universe

Data Playground, Virtual Reality, and Humans of MY World Heading to Bangkok!

By Kristen Grennan, Global Youth Advocate

The Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development is being held in Bangkok, Thailand from May 21-22 and the UN Millennium Campaign will be there displaying the peoples’ voices through the Data Playground, virtual reality, and Humans of MY World.

What is the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development?

The forum will be a multi-stakeholder dialogue on three key issues: (a) practical approaches for integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development; (b) the potential for a regional monitoring and accountability framework; and (c) the form and function of the Forum beyond 2015. The theme of this year’s session is “Strengthening integration, implementation and review for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.”

UN Millennium Campaign will be hosting a Data Playground at the forum for visitors to explore and interact with the MY World data, a virtual reality film screening called Clouds Over Sidra, and a Humans of MY World photo exhibition.

Social Media

What is a Data Playground?

Data Playground at the Cartagena Data Festival
Data Playground at the Cartagena Data Festival

The Data Playground is an interactive display of the MY World data. Using large touch screens, viewers can touch and play with the data, making “big data” fun and exciting. This is perfect for all ages and will be on display at the Forum in Bangkok on May 21.

Here are sample tweets you can use to post on your twitter account, so don’t be shy, join the conversation on Twitter!

  • Interact w/ @myworld2015 data on May 21 at the Data Playground at the @UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum! http://www.unescap.org/events/apfsd2 #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • You’ll be in #Bangkok for the @UNESCAP Forum? Join us on 5/21 at our @myworld2015 #DataPlayground! #dataviz #bigdata  #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • Can’t wait for the #DataPlayground at the @UNESCAP Forum, showing #PeoplesVoices from around the globe! @myworld2015 #BKK #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • .@myworld2015 & @mcampaign hosting a #DATAPLAYGROUND @UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum on #SustDev in Bangkok on 5/21! #sustdevAP #APFSD

Virtual Reality

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The Millennium Campaign offers the unique opportunity to get right into the life of a little girl living in a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan–thanks to the technology of virtual reality. The film Clouds Over Sidra is a virtual reality film made in collaboration with renowned virtual reality filmmaker Chris Milk that allows you to feel as if you were really in the Zaatari refugee camp with the main character, Sida. As Chris Milk recently stated in a TED Talk, “When [Sidra] is sitting in her room, you’re sitting there with her. You look down and you can see the carpet you both are sitting on. And because of that you see her humanity in a different way.” See what opportunities virtual reality has in store for the future of development!

Sample Tweets:

  • #VirtualReality brings you right into the life of a Syrian child. See #CloudsOverSidra @UNESCAP forum for yourself #VR4Dev #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • #VR4Dev? Check out #virtualreality at @UNESCAP forum in #BKK to see for yourself what it is like to be #childrenofsyria #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • #VirtualReality can change how we perceive crisis & conflict, see @UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum @mcampaign #VR4Dev #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • Get into the world of a Syrian refugee via #virtualreality at the @UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum! @myworld2015 #VR4Dev #sustdevAP #APFSD

Humans of MY World

Humans of MY World

The Millennium Campaign will also be hosting a photo exhibition displaying the peoples’ voices behind the data. In this intimate photo series, people explain what their top MY World priorities are for Post-2015 and why it is so important to them. Go beyond the numbers, get into the stories, and see the human side of MY World.

  • Beautiful stories of experiences & priorities of ppl from around the globe from @myworld2015, @UNESCAP Asia Pacific Forum #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • #Storytelling that brings you right to the heart of #Development https://www.facebook.com/homy2015 View the gallery in #BKK @UNESCAP #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • “It feels mostly like I’m waiting for death to come” https://www.facebook.com/homy2015/photos/pb.502956393150078.-2207520000.1430749293./591525860959797/?type=3&theater Photo gallery in #BKK, @UNESCAP @myworld2015 #sustdevAP #APFSD
  • #PeoplesVoices #BKK: “It’s stressful, but we keep going” https://www.facebook.com/homy2015/photos/pb.502956393150078.-2207520000.1430749293./591525860959797/?type=3&theater Gallery on 5/21 in #BKK @UNESCAP Forum #sustdevAP #APFSD

Finally, don’t forget to join the Peoples’ Voices Challenge!