The “Job Fit” campaign, initiated by the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation in collaboration with the Block&Roll agency, has been awarded the title of “Campaign with Purpose” for this year. It is recognized as one of the best socially responsible campaigns implemented in Serbia over the past year. Awards and statues were distributed at the Festival of Socially Responsible Communication, traditionally held on the International Day of the Child. The accolades were given to campaigns that utilized the power of communication to address specific social issues.
The “Job Fit” campaign is part of the “Job Fit: Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities” project implemented by the Youth with Disabilities Forum in partnership with Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation, Caritas of Serbia, Smart Kolektiv and the Center for Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The campaign aims to promote the employment of persons with disabilities, with a focus on the Youth with Disabilities Forum’s employment portal – www.zaposljavanje.fmi.rs. This portal is the only platform connecting persons with disabilities and potential employers.
“More than half a million of our fellow citizens live with some form of disability, and only 7% are employed. That’s why, in the campaign, we reversed the narrative. Instead of discussing what employers can do for people with disabilities, we talked about what they can do for the company they work for, thanks to their talents, enthusiasm, and abilities. The campaign brought together civil society organizations, companies, local governments, media, and the wider public. The portal was joined by 128 companies and 607 persons with disabilities seeking job opportunities and the chance they have long awaited,” stated Sanja Vukelić, PR Manager at the Ana and Vlade Divac Foundation. She emphasized the significant role of campaign ambassadors – persons with disabilities who found employment or participated in one of the many programs under the project. They shared their excellent experiences during the campaign and appealed to both employers to advertise positions tailored to persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities to take the initiative and apply through the portal.
“We are delighted that such an important social topic has been recognized and affirmed. We are particularly proud of this acknowledgment because it resulted from multisectoral collaboration and a wide range of partnerships, where everyone was united with the same goal – to effectively convey the message about the importance of equal inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labor market,” added Vukelić.
“Campaigns with Purpose” is the first festival of socially responsible communication in Serbia and one of the first of its kind globally. Campaigns receiving the “Campaign with Purpose” title are those that use the power of communication to address specific social issues related to children or individuals, draw public attention to them, and offer possible solutions. This year, two new categories were introduced for the first time: ECO (green) and SOCIAL (yellow). In line with the ESG platform and the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations, these two categories cover all areas of socially responsible business.
Tijana Adamov Ignjatović, founder of the Campaigns with Purpose Festival and Žute Pantalone NGO, the initiator of the festival, emphasized that the festival has grown not only because the “Campaign with Purpose” titles were awarded in the ECO category for the first time but also because the importance of socially responsible communication has increased. “We want to encourage more companies to opt for socially responsible communication and channel the power of communication for the well-being of people and the planet. We also want to reward those who have already made that choice,” said Adamov Ignjatović.
The campaign video is available the link “Job Fit – Campaign with Purpose 2023.”
