Cambodian NGO Shortlisted for International Prize

Siem Reap based NGO This Life Cambodia (TLC) has reached the finals of a prestigious global competition, and is now calling on Cambodian supporters to vote for it to win. More than 200 organisations went through a lengthy application, judging and assessment process for the Grassroots Justice Prize, and was one of 10 to be chosen as a finalist. Three awards of $10,000 have already been granted, but the fourth and final award is to be chosen by global public vote.

TLC’s campaign to stop domestic violence has already won the Best Social Media Campaign Of The Year award at the Not For Profit Technology Awards in Australia and is shortlisted for two Social Media Marketing Awards. However, the Grassroots Justice Prize is the only one to be selected by both an expert panel of judges and public acclaim. It is awarded once every two years, adding to its prestige and impact and TLC are the only Asian NGO to make it to the shortlist.

The End Violence Together social media campaign ran for 16 days in November and December 2018 and went viral, with a reach of almost 4 million on Facebook alone, and with a flagship video viewed more than 1 million times. It led to more than 13,000 Cambodians seeking help and information at a specially created website featuring easy read versions of the law against domestic violence, an audio version of the law, a downloadable digital helmet and links to places to get help.

The campaign was driven by a creative video which grabbed attention and provoked conversation by imagining a world where women and children didn’t wear helmets outside to protect themselves from road accidents, but wore them inside their homes to protect from violence.

The campaign had to be creative to reach people as social attitudes about domestic violence are widespread and entrenched. Over 20% of Cambodian women experience domestic violence, but just 24% seek help, 40% saying they don’t seek help because they consider such violence “normal”. Worse, just 8% of Cambodians know that the 2005 law on domestic violence protects women and children from violence.

“Being nominated for the Grassroots Justice Prize is a huge honour and will help us to win more funding for our work protecting Cambodian women and children from violence.” said Billy Gorter, executive director of This Life Cambodia. “It’s a recognition not just of our work but also of the Cambodian people’s passion and desire for change. If Cambodians hadn’t engaged with our campaign’s message and shared, commented and talked about it in such huge numbers then it wouldn’t have been a success. We’re now hoping that same energy can help us win, and would love it if Cambodians would take 1 minute to vote for us in this competition. It’s a way of showing the world what Cambodians can achieve when working together.

If you would like to support This Life Cambodia by voting Simply click this link and vote in 30 seconds – http://bit.ly/TLCvote . You won’t be joining any mailing lists

More key facts from the campaign

• Film viewed by over 1 million Cambodians
• More than 258,000 people engaged with the campaign across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter through shares, comments, likes
• Over 13,000 unique visitors went to campaign page to access legal advice/resources
• On Facebook alone, the campaign was shared over 9,000 times
• The campaign reached over 4,000,000 – a quarter of the population.
• Facebook helmet frame and downloadable digital helmet were shared or downloaded more than 2,500 times.

Submitted to CNE by T.B.