Anthem Award wins!

From warning people about the dangers of unexploded ordnance in Ukraine on TV, on billboards and in social media, to transforming attitudes around recycling and the people who help with it in India – we’re so proud to have won three Anthem Awards for our work changing hearts and minds on critical issues.

Launched in 2021 and described by The New York Times as the “Internet’s highest honour,” the Anthem Awards are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and judged by jury. This year’s honourees also included celebrity Paris Hilton, athlete Frances Tiafoe, and philanthropists Tim Gill and Scott Miller. The awards celebrate excellence in purpose- and mission-driven work across seven core causes: Diversity; Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging; Education; Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment & Climate. 

Our work in Ukraine, a nation-wide mine awareness campaign, ‘Notice the Changes’, earned silver in the Humanitarian Action and Services category, while in India, our ‘Wash the Dabba’ campaign – as part of our work to build understanding around Bengaluru’s waste-picking community as essential to the environment – won gold in the Sustainability, Environment, and Diversity category, and silver in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

87 million views – from social media to supermarkets

In Ukraine, our nationwide, multimedia mine awareness campaign had an estimated 87 million views across two phases. It included public service announcements on TV and radio, social media explainers shared by Eurovision winners and other influencers, prominent billboards, and accessible short video ads in everyday settings like trains, supermarkets, petrol stations, and pharmacies. A documentary film showcased a pioneering female deminer and her mine detection dog. And our comprehensive educational course was hosted on Diia.Osvita, the government's widely used digital education platform.

Most importantly – we improved people’s understanding of what to do if they encounter a mine. Our research showed that people in a test group who watched one of our TV public service announcements reported a 28% increase in awareness of what to do when encountering a mine, and 69% increase in remembering the emergency phone number.

A city-wide movement for recycling and dignity

In India, our #WashTheDabba campaign - encouraging people to empty, rinse, and dry plastic food containers (‘dabba’) before disposal—turned into a city-wide movement, sparking conversations about the impact of unclean food containers on waste pickers and the recyclability of dry waste. The campaign highlighted the critical role of waste pickers and demonstrated how small, mindful actions can prevent tonnes of recyclable material from ending up in landfills, and was amplified and referenced by leading actors, artists, influencers, institutions, municipal bodies and leading businesses and corporate leaders. It reached an estimated 3.2 million people across Bengaluru through social media, outdoor activations, reminder messages on 136,000 food containers, digital screens in 65 apartment complexes, and direct outreach.

And it led people to change their ways: A third-party evaluation found that 44% of respondents could recall the campaign without prompting, and 60% of them reported that they were more likely to wash plastic food containers before disposal. Waste pickers at Dry Waste Collection Centres also confirmed a noticeable improvement in the cleanliness of used food boxes.

#WashtheDabba is part of the #Invaluables initiative under Saamuhika Shakti, a collaboration among 11 partners with funding from the H&M Foundation to enable waste pickers to have greater agency to lead secure and dignified lives. 

'Notice the Changes' was informed by research conducted with support from Humanity & Inclusion and UNDP, and our campaign was developed with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine and agency Two More Rows, with funding from H&I and UNDP.

#WashtheDabba was produced through Saamuhika Shakti, a collaboration among 11 partners with funding from the H&M Foundation to enable waste pickers to have greater agency to lead secure and dignified lives. Read more about the campaign.