RNW Media's goal is to contribute to a world where young people in restrictive settings can claim their rights and shape a better future. To strengthen our work, we partner with networks such as CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations and activists dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world.
Applying innovative media approaches, RNW Media's Citizens' Voice programme creates and maintains digital platforms offering safe spaces where young women and men from across political, ethnic, racial, regional or religious divides can come together in a way which is often impossible in the offline space.  In late 2018, 5 Citizens' Voice projects participated in the CIVICUS Speak! campaign. Speak! was created in response to the current global context, in which people face increasing attacks on their basic freedoms, and a culture of division is causing many of us to turn against each other.
The Citizens' Voice team in the Netherlands worked closely with CIVICUS and its own regional teams, as well as RNW Media's Communications department to build the campaign from the ground up. Regional teams in DRC, Burundi and Mali ran an online and offline campaign, focusing on offline events. In Yemen and Libya, the focus was on online campaigning through content and engagement. The campaign themes included gender issues, racism, inter-community violence and social cohesion. The campaign reached more than 900,000 people online while offline events attracted 1,000 participants.