Social Marketing-Egypt Artifacts I look better in Egypt. Keep me where I was born "Egyptian antiquities stealing "

Background, purpose and focus of plan

The issue of theft in museums of valuable artifacts has been an old age crime that dates back to even the biblical times where the subdue cities would lose their wealth to the conquerors. With the historical preservation and attachment of value to the historical artifacts there came an upsurge of the tradition of looting.

The crime of looting has been exacerbated by the sprouting of the museums and academic centers that concentrate on the anthropological and cultural preservations as a tool for their study as well as commercial investments. Being that the authentic artifacts are few and highly valued, over time there has been commercialization of the same hence the looting and theft for money of these artifacts.

Historical background

Looting was actually certified by the authorities in the olden days, for instance the British consul-general, more than two hundred years ago commissioned Giovanni Battista Belzoni to ambush Egypt and loot antiquities which they were to take to England. It was a successful mission with the looting of the Memnon (legendary hero) head and various ancient temple columns.

The above certified looting acted as an ice breaker since after it there came a myriad of several other looting sprees and even more museums were trying to take the artifacts from Egypt to Europe. This has never stopped to date and the loot of the ancient Egypt remains to be on display allover the world (Laura M. Siegle, 2004).

It has been an agonizing experience for the Egyptians to follow their own artifacts that were skillfully done by their ancestors. They have to follow the artifacts to New York, Rome, Istanbul and even as far as Paris. It has been a theft that has involved even the dignitaries in the governments of the world and renown owners of museums and anthropological collection.

1.3 Current/recent antiquities looting

The looting of the artifacts has persisted to date with the universities that host museums and other public museums being victims to the looting. Some of the instances include the looting that took place at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo when there were protests in Tahrir Square on January 28, 2011 (Fayza Haika, 2011). Though many of the looted items have been recovered, majority having been damaged, some 33 pieces still remain at large to date. Among the loot was the significant statue of King Tutankhamen, his fan, the great grand parents and the boy king (The Huffington Post, 2011).

The American University in Cairo was also a victim of the same fate in April when some 145 authentic pieces and 50 replicas went missing. The items that were stolen included Coptic, Islamic and some ancient Egyptian artifacts yet they had been stored in a very secretive and secure corer where people were not allowed to access. It was believed that it must have been a theft conducted by or facilitated by the employees therein. This was recorded as a second theft in the same venue since one was undertaken in 1989 and to date the culprits are yet to be traced (Nevine El-Aref, 2011).

1.4 Campaign purpose

The purpose of the campaign is to help in eradicating the vice of the looting and theft of the antiquities which are primarily the wealth of Egypt which should be guarded by the entire society so as to help in preservation and conservation for the benefit of the entire world. When the ancient antiquities are placed at a central place like Egypt, they are bound to benefit more people who can travel from any part of the world to Egypt to have a view of the entire collection that if they are stolen and spread allover the world such that one has to hop from one country to another in search of them. An amusing example is the theft of Nefertiti whose bust is in Berlin the main stone in London yet it belongs to Egypt (The Associated Press, 2009).

1.5 Campaign focus

The campaign will be focused on the local Egyptian communities especially those living near the ancient pyramid sites that host the museums and the people who are employed in the various museums in the country. These are the people who will be very instrumental in the preservation and protection of the antiquities once they understand the social significance of the museums and the artifacts found therein.

2.0 Situation analysis

2.1 Internal strengths

The menace of theft of the antiquities has been a worry of the government of Egypt and other institutions as well. The Archeological...

The Egyptian government has always tried to ensure there is safety and recovery of the artifacts incase one is stolen. The recent recovery of the artifacts stolen during the riots in February is a good example. These are the strong grounds and advantages that exist internally that the campaign will base its foundation upon.
2.2 Internal weaknesses

There is regrettably a group of Egyptians and employees of the museums who have occasionally assisted in the theft of the artifacts by giving away the crucial information about the antiquities and the security details. An instance is like the above mentioned American University in Cairo looting where the artifacts that were stolen were of high value and had not even been displayed but kept in a security room with very few people, of high standing in the management knowing the details of the treasure. There was immediate concurrence among the security personnel that it must have been an insider job. These are some of the weaknesses that the campaign will be aimed at reducing.

2.3 External forces and threats to the campaign plan

The Egyptian venues have been the prime targets for many looters for various reasons. For instance it is Egypt that is known world over to be holding the richest of all the history in the world. The Egyptian history is very rich and authentic as supported by the historical facts and the Bible that corresponds to the artifacts found therein. For this reason, they have such a large demand base from all the archeology lovers and museum collections and even the sheer malicious looters out to make illegal money.

This mass attraction to the Egyptian artifacts then makes them more expensive and hence lucrative for the looters as compared to other artifacts from other parts of the world. These are among the reasons why the Egyptian artifacts have been the target of many looters over the years and continue to be today.

These are the external threats that the campaign will definitely face since they are the prime concern of the campaign in a bid to ensure that the artifacts that belong to Egypt remain in Egypt.

2.4 External opportunities

There have been a world wide concern over the looting in Egypt as noted above, people, organizations and even governments have come together to ensure that there are fewer and fewer thefts carried out in Egypt and other historical sites. Many governments will confiscate and deport back any artifact that is nabbed at their borders and points of entry like airports which do not have the relevant authority to be transferred. This is in accordance with the National Stolen Property Act and the provisions of the UNESCO convention 1973 (U.S. And International Laws, 2001). There are several organizations that have set up websites sensitizing people on the importance of archeological conservation and these are the opportunities that the campaign will build upon to ease the social sensitization about the looting.

3.0 Target population

The prime target of the campaign is the youth in Egypt since they are the ones who were of late noted to be involved in outright daytime looting of the antiquities and malicious damage of the museums during the uprising. This raises a concern since they have failed to look at the historical inheritance as a social property and used it as a political landmark to settle political anger and differences.

It is worth noting that there are around 50 major museums in Egypt all of them with valuable antiquities that are all the time vulnerable to looting (Tour Egypt, 2011). This means that all these museums need a social sensitization about the value of the artifacts and the community around them.

4.0 Campaign objectives and goals

4.1 Behavior objectives

The campaign aims at changing the behavior of the Egyptians who are in direct relation and contact with the museums in terms of employees and the neighborhood. It is expected that the behavior of hosting, directing and even assisting the looters and rampant collaboration with them will stop by the end of the campaign period.

4.2 Knowledge objective

The campaign is aimed at equipping the target population and the entire Egyptian population of the significance of the preservation of the artifacts. There seems to be a gap in the knowledge availability to the populace concerning the significance of the museums and the artifacts therein. The looting in…