UNICEF Cambodia, Communications Department, Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Using Creativity To Protect And Inspire Cambodia's Children During COVID

Essay of up to 650 words

Total 650 words used.

On 27^th January 2020, COVID-19 reached Cambodia. Given the unprecedented crisis the pandemic created for Cambodia’s children – threatening their health, education, safety and very future – UNICEF Cambodia was mandated to do all it could to protect them, and its communications team was asked to support the Royal Government of Cambodia in rising to the country’s biggest challenge since its civil war four decades before.

Protecting children in a pandemic meant protecting whole families, so in 2020 the team worked with the Government and partners to produce creative content tailored and targeted enough to reach and educate all 16 million of its population through traditional media, social media, and offline channels. In 2021, it moved to supporting Cambodia’s nationwide vaccine roll-out with creative content, all while trying to maintain the education of 3.2 million children with videos and other educational resources, and provide them with content providing inspiration and hope.

To meet these enormous challenges, a team of 7 [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION] had to rapidly expand [REDACTED FOR PUBLICATION]. The team included media specialists, social media officers, graphic designers, photographers, videographers, and creatives.

In 2020, the most urgent priority was spreading awareness of COVID-19 and how families and children could protect themselves. In order to reach every demographic, including those in hard-to-reach areas and speaking minority languages, the team had to be inventive and resourceful, producing a staggering 157 creative communications assets in one year. The creativity can be shown by the fact these assets included animated billboards, public health videos, posters, radio content, animations, loudspeaker messages and even karaoke songs and boardgames. These offline assets reached 10 million people, two thirds of the population, and a report by the Ministry of the Interior found that every village in Cambodia was reached. Social media was an essential platform, boosted by a formal partnership with Facebook Cambodia. Videos, animations, case studies, tips and more achieved a total social media reach of almost 150 million - compared to 15 million in 2019. At 2020's close, Cambodia was one of the few countries to have recorded zero deaths, a major national success before vaccines were developed.

IN 2021, the situation became more challenging when the Delta variant led to a surge and Cambodia’s first fatalities. Fortunately, in March the first vaccines arrived, with UNICEF procuring and distributing millions across Cambodia. The communications team was again asked to support the Government with vaccine communications that highlighted benefits and debunked misinformation. Ultimately, 197 communication assets were produced for print, TV, radio, and social media. Online channels were key platforms for the delivery of vaccine-related public health assets including informative videos, FAQs, and “champion” stories featuring people receiving the vaccines. 2020’s record social media reach of 150 million was dwarfed by a 450 million reach. As a result of many factors, particularly the Government’s determined vaccination drive, Cambodia became one of the ten most vaccinated countries globally.

It was essential throughout this period to not only combat COVID but also to provide empowering and positive content to young people. This was done through content such as an award-winning animation series supporting the education of 3.2 million students, as well as safety information reaching 13,300 schools and supporting their reopening. On World Children’s Day 2020, our “12 lives” campaign captured the hopes and fears of real children on UNICEF's website, then drew attention to them by emblazoning their images on social media and billboards. For World Children’s Day 2021 we were more ambitious, and launched Generation Future to offer mentorship, training and promotion to youth with ideas for creating positive change. In under three months, 13 inspiring young people and 15 famous mentors launched exciting social media campaigns, including mental health awareness videos gaining 100,000+ views. Celebrations culminated on World Children Day, when 14,000 joined a Generation Future launch online, and an innovative interactive web hub was created to showcase the youth’s creativity. 

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Top 5 achievements.

1. Producing videos, posters and other materials educating Cambodian public on protecting themselves from COVID, such as this video with 2 million views. Content reached every village in Cambodia, supporting low infection rates in 2020.
2. Creatively reaching children specifically with safety messages, such as by creating boardgames or rewriting the words to a much-loved children’s song and creating a dance craze securing 1 million views.
    
3. Supporting education for Cambodia’s 3.2 million children, through home-study content such as this award-winning children’s animation with 290,000 subscribers: https://web.facebook.com/unicefcambodia/videos/566253550715533
    
4. Promoting vaccines and overcoming misinformation through creative content such as short films broadcast on video billboards across major cities, supporting Cambodia to become one of world’s ten most vaccinated countries.
    
5. Bringing hope to Cambodian children through our 12 voices campaign seen by millions online and on billboards and through Generation Future project, showcased in this innovative interactive hub.