An April Facebook post features Felipe Tavares kissing his infant daughter born with microcephaly. In the text, he explains how, ever since his daughter was born with the birth defect linked to Zika, he has worked to provide fathers across Brazil with the support they need to return to their families so mothers aren’t raising their babies alone.
Designed to engage men as allies in the fight against Zika, the ad from UNICEF was based on an insight from Facebook that 58 percent of posts about Zika in Brazil came from men.
“This outbreak has been one of the first public health emergencies where digital communication tools have the opportunity to fundamentally improve how populations become aware of and respond to the outbreak impacting their communities,” wrote Erica Kochi, head of UNICEF Futures, in a post providing further details on the partnership with Facebook. “Trends in online interactions and patterns can inform our interventions and make them more effective.
About the author
Catherine Cheneycatherinecheney
Catherine Cheney is the Senior Editor for Special Coverage at Devex. She leads the editorial vision of Devex’s news events and editorial coverage of key moments on the global development calendar. Catherine joined Devex as a reporter, focusing on technology and innovation in making progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining Devex, Catherine earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Yale University, and worked as a web producer for POLITICO, a reporter for World Politics Review, and special projects editor at NationSwell. She has reported domestically and internationally for outlets including The Atlantic and the Washington Post. Catherine also works for the Solutions Journalism Network, a non profit organization that supports journalists and news organizations to report on responses to problems.
