4 PROJECTS THAT BRING INCLUSION TO CAMBODIA THROUGH NOW-Us! AWARD Cambodia 2022

2 October 2022 - Socheat Ly

PHNOM PENH, September 1, 2022 – After two months of skill-nurturing Bootcamp and many mock pitches, Impact Hub Phnom Penh and Voice through Oxfam in Cambodia have selected three awardees of the NOW-Us Award Cambodia 2022 and another awardee from popular votes. Granting the four teams one step closer to promoting diversity and inclusion with their empowered initiatives.

The Awarding ceremony took place at Factory Phnom Penh. Bringing together the top 10 teams to pitch their projects to the jury committees and audiences watching live on Facebook and in person. With the attendance of Ms. Sok Chan Chhorvy, Program Manager at Oxfam; Ms. Melenie Mossard, CEO of Impact Hub Phnom Penh; Civil Society Organizations from various fields; and the general public.

NOW-Us! Award Cambodia 2022 happened with the mission to embrace diversity and inclusion in Cambodia through empowering initiatives that promote inclusivity to Voice’s rightsholder groups. (Read more about Voice’s rightsholder groups)

“In a span of 2 months, the 10 selected teams have gone through a 5-day Bootcamp with our trainers, mentors, and ambassadors. They’ve also done the extra preparation, research, and re-evaluation on their projects with their mentors for this pitching day as well.” -Pisethneat Pich, Incubation Lead of Impact Hub Phnom Penh.

Wonder what happened on their pitch day? watch it here

Through vigorous deliberations of the juries and the public, here are the our winning teams;

“Obrom Akarkam Digital” by Phum Asia Youth Center took first place where their idea is to nurture Kuy indigenous youths to adapt to digital societal modernization and the Industrial Revolution 4.0.

The second place goes to Cambodia Sign Language for All with a mission to provide equal access to information for people with hearing disabilities while promoting self-learning sign languages.

“Pka Sla Ekareach” by the Arts and Mental Health Project took third place, where their mission is to mentally support stigmatized single women prone to harassment by conducting an art festival.

As a surprise, Impact Hub Phnom Penh and Voice through Oxfam in Cambodia have selected another winner through popular voting, La CHHOUK’s “Srolanh Kon Jea Kon,” which aims to promote awareness of gender diversity among parents of LGBTQ+ children.

Besides the 4 Awardees, our 6 amazing teams who are also a part of NOW-Us are;

Do not be afraid of me is created under the Cambodian Association of Hansen People with Disability, which aims to raise awareness of Hansen’s illness among the young population in Cambodia to eliminate discrimination against victims of Hansen’s illness and change the stigma in our society.
Spean Jomnorn, by Cambodian Youth for Research, is a campaign that aims to eliminate age discrimination in Cambodia by providing a platform to connect the young population with the elderly meaningfully, hoping to achieve social harmony.
Kampuchea Sela Handicap is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower youth with intellectual disabilities to become independent and receive job opportunities through teaching foundation skills to the youth (aged 18 to 35) to receive skillsets and be able to participate in our society fully.
Kdei Karuna Organization is an initiative focused on survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. It aims to strengthen survivors’ capacity and soft skills to become active community facilitators to addressthe challenges in their communities left over from the genocide.
WISH is an initiative under Proshop to raise awareness of mental well-being and increase access to mental health counseling services for 400 women (18 to 45 years old) living in 6 slum communities, Sangkat Khmuonh, Khan Sen Sok, Phnom Penh.
Breakthrough Film Festival is an initiative under the Breakthrough Movement – an open platform promoting gender equality through storytelling and sharing experiences, especially for women and young girls facing gender-based violence and overcoming negative gender norms.

There were plenty of priceless emotional expressions of gratitude towards the whole program after awarding the winners. This milestone marks Impact Hub Phnom Penh’s second year of implementing NOW-Us! Award Cambodia successfully.

“ I am personally very impressed by their works. I really hope that our audience will be inspired by the teams’ actions and commitment to making Cambodia a better place. I am looking forward to seeing the future impact they will make in their communities.” -Melanie Mossard, CEO of Impact Hub Phnom Penh.

After this final pitch, Impact Hub Phnom Penh is looking forward to organizing a podcast series to explore the insights of the winning projects and more possibilities for creating impacts in embracing diversity and inclusivity within Cambodia.

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