Yerevan – A major new social media campaign has been launched in Armenia to raise awareness of health-related issues among migrants and the population at large.    

The campaign is called “Sincere Talk”, using a phrase Armenians use in daily speech when they want to stress, they are being open and honest.    

Originally designed as an intervention for behaviour change aimed at dispelling HIV-related stigma, “Sincere Talk” has quickly been adapted to take account of the current COVID-19 pandemic.    

In phase one COVID 19 related posts have been developed to address ways of preventing transmission, to give reliable sources for up to date information, to identify signs and symptoms, and inform where to get tested.    

“Our innovative campaign attempts to engage target audiences to support eventual self-awareness as an at-risk population and go beyond being a passive information delivery system”, says programme manager Nune Asatryan. “The messaging and approach of ‘Sincere Talk’ are designed to create a supportive virtual environment where all demographics can disclose concerns and risks and seek information”.   

Metrics will monitor the engagement that social media participants have with their own risk-taking behaviours, starting documenting posts indicating awareness of HIV risk.    

The overall goal of the campaign is to improve HIV/AIDS awareness among urban labour migrants in Armenia. Communicating complicated information in a user-friendly way is hard and "Sincere talk" aims to accomplish that via storytelling.    

The illustrated characters Anush and Garnik (common Armenian names) tell a family story and convey the campaign key messages. Even the visual identity and logo are part of the storytelling and represent the safety and protection of home.  

“Sincere Talk” is being implemented on Facebook, Instagram, and Odnoklassniki.    

For more information please contact Nune Asatryan, IOM Armenia, Tel.: +374585692, ext. 107 Email: nasatryan@iom.int.