As a UN Volunteer I am a part of the Communications Department at the United Nations Population Fund in Bolivia (UNFPA Bolivia). I contribute to different communications projects such as the development of the online communications strategy. Its implementation quadrupled UNFPA Bolivia’s online visits in less than a year.

Communication is crucial to any organization, it brings visibility and credibility. Without it, other actors (governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), international organisations and civil society) would not know about UNFPA’s work and it would be much more difficult for partnerships to work together. It’s important to generate information and lessons learned from past actions but also to develop sharing opportunities. Knowing each other and creating ties improves results and impacts positively on the development of a region.

How do we implement UNFPA Bolivia’s online communication’s strategy?
Today, in our Web 2.0 world, a big part of communication needs to be focused on the Internet. This means, on one hand, developing ways to be present and visible on the web and, on the other hand, to demonstrate to colleagues that online communication is essential.

Although UNFPA Bolivia’s website already existed, my goal as a UN Volunteer was to make it more aesthetically attractive to users, and to develop different sections and content that would be of interest to our visitors. Therefore, I worked closely with the webmaster and with each department to collaborate on the creation of new articles. We also wanted to present interactive information through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

In order to inform our partners and continue positioning ourselves, we launched a thematic newsletter. It promotes our work (publications, news and events) on UNFPA related subjects such as population and development, gender, sexual and reproductive rights, etc.

We also developed our visibility in Google (60% of our visits) on organic results (through search engine optimization or SEO) and publicity (through search engine advertising or SEA).

All in all, this whole year has been a great experience. In addition to my contribution as a UN Volunteer, I was able to learn a lot in terms of cultural differences and language.  And without a doubt, the success of this project would not have been possible without the help and support of my colleagues.

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Bio: Pauline Gregoire (Belgium) has a degree in Social Studies and has collaborated with several Development and Human Rights Organisations, especially those related to gender issues. She was one year assigned in UNFPA Bolivia where she contributed to develop online communications strategies.