My name is Esther Tot. I am 21 years old. I am a young Cambodian lady that received a scholarship awarded by the two amazing Data Research industries, ESOMAR Foundation and Women in Research Organization. These two organisations have helped me since my first day in university and now I am in my 4th year and they are always here supporting me throughout my education journey.
This is my follow-up story:
I can’t believe that I am in Year 4! the final year of university life. From my first to the third year I always wished I could graduate soon, but I’m finally in my year 4 and I can feel that it is going to be over soon, and I don’t want it to be over! I start feeling like I’m going to miss school, missing all my teachers, my friends, and school volunteer events and meeting new foreign friends, seminars, and especially all the fun exchange programs. Now I have just figured out that I never expected my uni-life to finish this soon. My aim is to apply to continue my master’s degree abroad wherever possible according to God’s plan.
I honestly have no idea what journey awaits me in this semester, but I am trying my best to prepare for it. Nonetheless, I have great news! I have passed all the subjects in the last semester of my 3rd year. I was so scared that I would fail Finance class but – thank God – I passed it all! I am so proud of myself that I continue to improve and survive this university life. They say, Life will move on even though you wanted it to or not, so I either move along through life or I get stuck in my pathetic pass. I quit my part-time teaching job as I needed more time to focus on my studies, especially on my Finance class. However, I am ready to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I hope I could get one good career during my internship or when I will graduate. I always wanted to open up my own business, but I have no budget. I also want to work in the embassy and become an ambassador one day…
In conclusion, I would like to encourage all young ladies to be free to dream a big dream and work toward achieving it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. Remind yourself that you can! Because achievement can depend on your thought as your thought influence your action. Be brave, be confident, step out of your comfort zone and achieve your goal.
Lastly, I want especially to say thank you to ESOMAR Foundation and Women in Research! They are the amazing data & insight research industry organisations that are giving me the opportunity to change my whole life. This is the most amazing gift that I have ever received. It is a life-changing gift from heaven. These two organisations have helped change a lot of young citizens’ life and offer them a good education for a future career.
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Blog-post from Esther Tot, who received the ESOMAR Foundation Scholarship to study at the English based Bachelor Degree program in International Business at the National University of Management (NUM) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
It has been quite a while since I wrote my blog, due to a lot of circumstances that are going on in my life right now. What I’ve learned from life is that “The older you get, the more you know and learn and even life get tougher each time you get older”. During my vacation break I’ve spent my time on a part-time internship as a part-time English teacher in the evening from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at the American Bridge International School (ABI). I have been teaching students aged between 13 to 20 years old, and I can say this is a new and different experience.
I like to push myself far and step out of my comfort zone and try something new and different which I never have done before. As people know me, I am a kind of an introvert person and so stepping into a teaching type of person is a whole new level of experience. I have learned to be more extrovert as teaching has required me to talk to people I have not known before, such as my students and my colleagues. I have to be quite creative to teach to teenagers, cause I was once a teenager and I understand that we don’t like boring stuff, so I have to make learning fun. This is what I always wished it to be for me as well. School always makes students feel bored, scared, nervous and lazy, and I always wished school was more about making learning fun, boosting students’ enthusiasm and make them want to come to school to learn and study and be able to enjoy it as well. And this is my chance to try and make my students want to enjoy learning English.
However, besides my teaching internship, I try to spend most of my time focusing on my study. In this junior year, there are a lot of assignments, projects, presentations. It keeps on increasing, and there’s nothing to complain cause that’s how life is. By completing all those assignments and projects it is like self-learning and self-discipline. I can learn a lot through those works. Especially, cooperation with many different kind and type of people and teamwork despite the different perspectives and opinions and overview. We somehow still manage to cooperate together to achieve our goal, which will also apply later when we will graduate and go out to work in a company. Meanwhile, in each semester, we always have new teachers at least one or two per semester and sometimes all new five teachers. I enjoy meeting them and learn more through them because different persons and different mindsets are interesting. In this Year 3 and 2nd semester on Monday we have Financial Management class taught by Mr. Suy SokRaksmey, on Tuesday is Marketing Research class by Mr. Nikhil Mani, Wednesday is Business Law by Professor Robert Longo, Thursday taught by three different teachers: two foreigners and one Cambodian – Mr. Andrew – who teaches PowerPoint right now, Mr. David will teach Introduction to Technology, and Cambodian teacher will teach Excel, and lastly on Friday we have Cross-Cultural Management class by our Korean Professor, Mr. Chuck Chung.
In conclusion, I am looking forward to more adventures and journeys ahead of me for next year which is the very last year of my university. In my Year 4 class I would love to take on a new experience of internship in one of the embassies, companies, or organizations to fulfill one of our course. I am also feeling excited ahead for my graduation hopefully in 2021. I never forget where I come from and how I got here as it is all because of ESOMAR Foundation, National University of Management, and Women In Research Organization that have helped me achieve my educational dreams and give me a better knowledge and life, as well as become a better person. I will always be grateful for all the help, support and love that everyone has given me.
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We are always on the lookout for partners and sponsors. If you are an individual or an organisation looking to understand more on how you can support us, please find more information here or contact: info@esomarfoundation.org
When talking about market research we usually discuss its commercial applications, such as product testing. Less is known about its contribution to the common good, even though development is a multi-billion sector. We ask several non-profits how data supports them in their powerful, world-improving endeavours – from making invisible street children visible, to tracking the spread of Ebola outbreaks.
Rebecca Lim
Rebecca Lim is Head of Our Better World (OBW), the digital storytelling initiative of the Singapore International Foundation, whose aim is to strengthen mutual understanding between global communities as well as enrich lives and effect positive change. The research that supports this work won an award at this year’s first edition of the ESOMAR Foundation ‘Making a Difference Competition’. Lim stresses the importance of reliable facts. “The data we have from our analytics informs us about what our online audiences are interested in, what they’re clicking on, and it guides us in our storytelling.”
OBW shares stories from non-profits from across Asia in video, photo and text form, to create a bigger awareness of good causes. The goal is to entice people to support them, says Lim. “It’s critical for us to have data, because that gives us insights and helps us get better in how we tell stories and how we get our audiences involved in the different causes.”
When the platform started six years ago, there was no research in digital storytelling for social impact in Asia. Primary research was needed to understand national psyches and uncover drivers of culturally and socially relevant story themes, to better connect with audiences. Only by understanding this, would OBW be able to nurture and grow an online community of action takers.
OBW approached Kantar Millward Brown to form a partnership to undertake this primary research. The study into digital audiences demonstrated how different triggers inspire people to act. “In India, for instance, the aspect of social change is most important. People want to be able to play a role in changing a flawed system. Having that insight, we created a video story about child sexual abuse in the country. This started a conversation online and many people approached the non-profit Cactus Foundation with stories about their abuse experiences, including a 70-year old lady. This also resulted in over 1000 volunteer enquiries to the Cactus Foundation. So that was really powerful.”
“We’re all about real stories, especially in this age of fake news, we feel these are all the more relevant.”
With such sensitive topics, it’s crucially important that Our Better World has access to the most reliable data. In case of a dispute or even a denial of social injustice, the organisation can always substantiate its stories by referring to data sets from credible sources. “We’re all about real stories,” stresses Lim. “Especially in this age of fake news, we feel these are all the more relevant.”
Sema Sgaier
Another winner in the ESOMAR Foundation ‘Making a Difference Competition’ 2018 is the Surgo Foundation, a privately funded action tank which partners with organisations and governments to help unlock some of their biggest challenges. “Our key principle is data,” says the foundation’s Co-Founder & Executive Director, Sema Sgaier. She explains that this is a multi-billion sector. Each year over 170 billion dollars is spent to improve the lives of people who live in poverty. This money is spent by multinationals, governments, donors etc. “It’s a pretty data-heavy sector. The question is how this data is being collected and used.”
As an example of smart data use, Sgaier tells about increasing the coverage of vaccines and immunisation to save children’s lives. “Spreading the vaccines is usually quite successful, but what’s lagging is the usage. We’re failing to treat the users as customers of a product because we don’t understand the detailed ecosystem they live in. So we try to close that gap with data and insights that are not traditional in the sector. With these we can design programs that improve the uptake of these services.”
The people whose lives the Surgo Foundation is trying to improve, are what Sgaier describes as populations who are in the dark to the private sector. “For example, many big brand products don’t reach places in rural India. Big manufacturers don’t reach these people through research. So for us, the challenge is to get the data, both on a large scale and on a detailed, deep level.” In order to get the much-needed facts, the foundation has developed its own multi-disciplined teams. It also partners with NGO’s, governments and large suppliers such as Ipsos, who have data collecting teams on the ground, as well as with start-ups who have developed new methodologies. “It really is a collaborative effort,” says Sgaier.
What distinguishes the Surgo Foundation within the non-profit field is its use of private sector-type insights in the public domain. “As an innovation lab, we’re trying to bring methodologies and approaches to the development sector that are not common, and in many ways are unique there. One example would be psycho-behavioural segmentation. In market research it is bread and butter, but in development it is new. In our sector we tend to look at demographics, at age, not at psycho-behavioural profiles. We’re really trying to shift the sector in its approach to thinking about data and how to collect it.”
Hugo Rukavina
Hugo Rukavina is Systems & Information Manager at StreetInvest, a International Development NGO that wants to improve the opportunities and safety of street children around the world. The organisation aims to better inform and positively influence stakeholders through research, data collection and advocacy. “To do this we need to demonstrate the impact of street work on street-connected children,” says Rukavina. “Research and data are key to supporting street-connected children. Without it, we do not know where they are or how best to support them.”
“The absence of this data makes these children invisible.”
Street-connected children exist in every country of the world, yet the lack of systematically collected and disaggregated data means StreetInvest does not know how many there are. “The lack of a standard methodology for counting them results in data which is contested and which lacks credibility. The absence of this data makes these children invisible, which leads to policies not being developed or measures that are ad hoc, temporary or short-term.”
StreetInvest’s headcounting methodology has been recognised as the sector-preferred approach to counting street-connected children, and has been used by a range of partners, including UNICEF. It seeks to provide a standardised, scalable, rights-respecting approach to collecting quantitative data on the number of street-connected children in a specified geographical location, explains Rukavina. “This data can then be disaggregated in by age, gender, disability and activities. The analysis and dissemination of this data is intended to inform the design of policies and programmes which affect street-connected children.”
The numbers have to be absolutely correct. Inaccurate data does not help street-connected children. Wildly inflated numbers can make policy makers and the public believe it’s an unsolvable problem because there is just too many of them in need of support. “Some NGOs may inflate numbers to attract funding, or they are simply based on poor estimates. Underreporting may have the opposite effect: if there is no hard data to show the existence of street-connected children in an area, the authorities can easily dismiss it as a minor issue that doesn’t require intervention.”
Bringing a wide group of stakeholders together, including governments, is one of the positive outcomes of StreetInvest’s headcount, says Rukavina. “It is not just about getting data, the process is also about bringing people and stakeholders together to reach a common understanding of the issues facing street-connected children, and that working with them in a rights-based and child-centred way is the best way to support them.”
Marie Stafford
Marie Stafford is European Director for the Innovation Group, JWT, an in-house futures consultancy that delivers trends, insight and thought leadership to its clients. She’s long been an advocate of businesses sharing their data for the common good. “If we agree that business has a role to play in helping to build a better world, then data philanthropy offers another route to achieving that goal. A lot of important data is held by businesses and organisations can’t get access.”
“Companies have an obligation to help solve social problems and this is an attitude they will bring to the workplace.”
The conversation is growing, she observes. Although she describes data philanthropy as still an emerging field, Stafford does see many signs of it gaining momentum. “Some data suggest that use of the hashtag #dataforgood has gone up by around 68 per cent in the last year. I think participation will definitely grow, but it’s going to take time. Participation is being driven by data scientists themselves, keen to put their skills to positive use outside the day job. Generation Z thinks companies have an obligation to help solve social problems and this is an attitude they will bring to the workplace. Gartner is now predicting that by 2020, employers with a data for good programme will have 20 per cent higher retention rates for data scientists. So it’s going to be a good way to motivate valuable talent.”
“Business has a role to play in helping to build a better world, then data philanthropy offers another route to achieving that goal.”
Stafford adds that consumers also rate ‘good’ companies higher. “Data philanthropy is just one way in which companies can demonstrate those values and pursue a social mission, and they have a big role to play in its future.” In a recent study JWT conducted on sustainability, 89 per cent of people across the UK, USA, China and Australia said they wanted to know more about companies’ efforts in the space. “I think in the contexts where it is appropriate and relevant, brands could involve consumers in the process, by actively eliciting their support for data sharing, even if this goes beyond the current legal requirements. At the end of the day data is generated by people, so it’s their data. It’s only right that they should also be able to take some credit for any positive impact.”
Good examples
Marie Stafford believes companies already hold data that can be put to work for good. She lists examples of data philanthropy:
IBM has a programme that connects its scientists with NGOs and academics.
DataKind is an organisation with global chapters that can match data scientists and analysts with causes that need help.
UPS donated handheld parcel-tracking devices that were used to help distribute supplies to refugees in Mauritanian camps.
Vodafone shares anonymised smartphone data with the Ghanaian government on human population movements, in order to track the spread of Ebola outbreaks.
Waze shared data on traffic flows to help academics tackle air pollution in Mexico City.
US food safety officers have used consumer review data from Yelp to help them prioritise their inspections.
Syngenta shared agricultural efficiency data gathered from more than 3,000 farms.
Intel and Google have been helping the National Center for Missing and Endangered Children track down trafficked children more rapidly through visual recognition and artificial intelligence.
Ghislain Mukuna
Ghislain Mukuna is Program Manager of the ADMIRE project, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in the Democratic Republic of Congo. All around the world, CRS is using new technologies to understand and visualize data. “This helps us extract practical information that can lead to improved programming, expanded impact, and better insights on different issues,” says Mukuna. He gives an example: CRS’ data from DRC shows that girls miss more school days than boys. “Better menstrual hygiene management could help address this problem, but we found that inadequate infrastructure, lack of equipment and knowledge are obstacles to better menstrual hygiene management, whether at school or at home.”
Mukuna feels there’s a good chance the community can break the taboo around menstruation if the issue becomes part of the discussions in the community. “This remains a hypothesis, because the pilot hasn’t yet taken place, but we would like to test approaches that would improve knowledge about puberty and menstruation by facilitating communication between adolescents and their parents on taboo subjects.” Indeed, studies in the DRC have demonstrated that parents are adolescents’ main sources of information on menstruation.
At CRS they are optimistic that this pilot will lead to a high impact, given the positive response of the community to the results of this research. “Working together, we believe we can change the current menstrual hygiene management situation in communities.” The exchange of information is crucial, adds Mukuna. “We want to share insights like this one with CRS staff, partners and other stakeholders to leverage lessons learned and draw the public’s attention to an issue so we can work together to create a better world.”
A review by Phyllis Macfarlane, ESOMAR Foundation Board Member
At the beginning of May I had the unprecedented pleasure of attending the UN SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Festival of Action, which has been held annually in Bonn, Germany, since the SDG’s were launched in 2015. I just can’t tell you how energizing and inspiring it is to be in the company of 1500 mostly young people (I think I might have been the oldest person there!) who are all doing their best to make the world a better place – either through their jobs or by setting up their own NfP organisations (or both). And it was fun, as well!
The Festival aims to share different perspectives, test and accelerate new ideas, and build an environment where the SDGs become a priority for political engagement, democratic participation and personal behaviour, while deepening the coalition for SDG action. That’s what it says on the website. For me what came across was the emphasis on personal action – that unless we each take action as individuals then things won’t change. One of the overall themes was the ‘butterfly effect’ – the phenomenon that small actions started in one place can have big consequences all around the world, and …
Float likeabutterfly, sting like a bee,
The hand can’t hit what the eye can’t see…
…was the very unexpected quotation we had thrown at us at the beginning of the second day’s plenary session.
Both surprising and unexpected because it sounds quite aggressive, and the first day had been very celebratory, showcasing the Awards and all that had been achieved. But on the second day we settled down to the serious business of facing up to how much still needs to be done – hence to the emphasis on individual action – and also to an exploration of measurement (my favourite subject!). So the phrase –the hand can’t hit what the eye can’tsee… is actually extremely relevant. You will remember that ESOMAR Foundation supports Paragon Partnerships, and that Paragon’s main objective is to help the UNmeasure progress with the SDG’s.
I was at the Festival with Hayk Gyuzalyan, expert social researcher, at the invitation of the UN SDG Action Group, and representing Paragon Partnerships. I was invited to be a judge of the UN SDG Action Awards, and Hayk to talk about the questionnaire library that we (mostly he) has developed to measure awareness and perceptions of progress with the SDG’s at country level.
Judging the Awards was an awesome experience – they had over 2000 entries from 142 countries and the quality was unbelievably high. These are very prestigious awards. There were 7 categories: innovators, mobilizers, connectors, storytellers, communicators, visualizers and includers – clever names, aren’t they? All themes and activities which help spread good deeds and the word across the globe!
I was on the judging panel for Story tellers and Visualisers, and I presented the Award for the Visualiser category. The winner was my personal favourite: Safecity – who have created a platform that crowdsources personal stories of sexual harassment and abuse in public spaces, in India. This data gets aggregated as hot spots on a map indicating trends at a very local level. The idea is to make this data useful for individuals, local communities and local administration (like the police!) to identify factors that causes behaviour that leads to violence and work on strategies for solutions. It allows us a new perspective at looking at the problem and trying to solve it. or sexual violence
Hayk spoke at a session on MyWorld which is an online questionnaire/survey about awareness of the SDG’s – we, as researchers, want a proper nationally representative random sample approach, and can be a bit ‘sniffy’ about unrepresentative samples – but for the UN SDG Action Group there’s also the concept of the survey as a voice of the people – of those who care. Governments have to take notice of such ‘voices’ these days.
So, two new concepts to think about : firstly research as an expression of popular tension – like a petition – the voice of those who care enough to say something – and secondly the new power of youth expressing through individual actions the desire for global change, justice, peace and equality – in many ways the exact opposite of current political ‘populist’ thinking movements which are about conservatism and localness, preservation of the status quo and suspicion of others/outsiders. Technology is, of course, the new enabler, for everyone, but the leadership and commitment of the young people that I met in Bonn, makes me bet that they’ll win in the long run.
As from all good events, I came away with a different perspective – full of respect for the young people who want to change the world and are not going to be beaten down – but also with a new view of research as a ‘voice ‘for the NfP sector. And, after all, that’s what ESOMAR Foundation and Paragon are all about – we want donors and implementors to do research to listen to the voice of the people they are trying to help. And, by listening better, to make more of a difference.
Phyllis Macfarlane ESOMAR Foundation Treasurer and Board Member
This is theeighth blog-post from Paola Loy Villagran, the recipient of the ESOMAR Foundation scholarship in Guatemala sponsored by WIRe and Unilever.
My life in recent months has been quite busy. We are about to start the final phase of studies and I am pleased with the work I have done updating myself with topics about Digital Marketing, Finance, teamwork and others for business process improvement.
The Digital Marketing course was basically about the act of promoting and selling products and services online and through any electronic devices. It is a fact that our buying decisions are based on the reviews we read, the solutions feature and the prices that we find and compare between brands. That being the case, an online presence is necessary regardless of what you sell.
We can take many strategies but the most important ones to mention are SEM / SEO which help a brand appear in search results, social media, website intelligence, return on investment and E-mail Marketing among others.
Also, during these first months we had the opportunity to work with a foreign professor from Venezuela, the class was totally interactive and very creative, since the theme of development was branding and creation of new products, even as part of the final project we had to make a video of ourselves as a personal branding exercise because at the end of the day each one of us plays a role in our work, in our family or in the student world, so whatever we do we must be excellent and committed so we have the best version of ourselves.
I can not stop mentioning my family during this process because they are the ones that encourage me to keep going until I finish my master´s degree. Especially my nephews with whom I had the opportunity of spending time in this Holy Week.
We had a very special moment admiring processions the last week.
My nephews and I, they are wearing traditional gowns in royal purple.
The color purple along with red, black, white and gold, has an important symbolic meaning as the color of royalty and suffering. They symbolize the suffering of Jesus Christ during the crucifixion.
For those, who have not read my words in previous posts, I am a huge fan of the traditions of my country, because although we have many problems politically and economically speaking I think the best attribute we have is our people, our faith and so many talented people who are trying to demonstrate the good things we have.
Proof of them I would like to talk about the incredible “masterpiece” carpet that students elaborated in Antigua Guatemala. Just looking at the colors, textures, and the meaning they sought to capture was impressive, with so many visual elements.
Most seen this week:
The carpet designs reflect traditions, biblical symbolism and scenes from nature.
How you can support in your country
If you are a market researcher, a national market research association, an NGO involved in research or a university interested in a scholarship in your country please contact us at info@esomarfoundation.org
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We are always on the lookout for partners and sponsors. If you are an organisation looking to understand more on how you can support us, please find more information here or contact: info@esomarfoundation.org
Blog post from Innocent Rwamba Nyaga who is following the MS in market research at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. Innocent is the recipient of the ESOMAR Foundation / MSRA Scholarship sponsored by WIRe and Unilever.
To this day, I am amazed at how I landed (got awarded) this scholarship. Every time I try to explain the steps I took to interested parties, the unmerited favor that was poured out on me, words fail me. All I am is grateful and forever indebted to ESOMAR Foundation-WIRe. THANK YOU! You have UPGRADED my life to another notch, I might (if God so wishes) be a manager soon and all to a girl under 30 years (28 years to be exact). It is a great achievement but it has been work. I am so happy now for the panicky days, the unsure days, the joyous days, and the days I was so overwhelmed but I have now come out on top.
This year 2019, has been a busy year and it has started so well I cannot explain how excited and how expectant for the future I am. I am among some that might be receiving a promotion in a couple of weeks and I am so ready for the interview, I will ace it!! I should say that (if I haven’t mentioned before) my colleague and I (note we are only the two of us) are the pioneers of the marketing department in the National Museums of Kenya. There has never before been a marketing department so we have so much on our plates (very happy about this) to put systems in place that will inform the future bearers of this office on best practices. We are setting up anew and it’s exciting as it is a huge responsibility on our laps. It is true, to whom much is given, much is required!!
As for my studies, I finally decided on my thesis topic; how does social media influence consumer buying behavior? I am pleased to say that unlike many students ahead of me, I will be conducting a qualitative research study instead of a quantitative one. Sometimes I get in my head and put so much pressure on myself saying that such an undertaking isn’t an easy one, I wonder how I will make it happen with all the responsibilities I have to see through. But then I remember during my 1st year 2nd semester when I had 6 units, Monday to Saturday classes, a full time job and I made it happen. Then I’m encouraged that even this (school project), I shall see through to it and I will give it very my best! So, I’m not sure of much these days but I’m taking it one day at a time. My supervisor Prof Munyoki, has been my rock during times when systems in the University worked against me. He is a kind and humble man, I look forward to working with him to make my thesis a reality and a success!!
I would also like to state that my relationship with Jesus has been my strength, why I’m so happy, so expectant for the future. My faith in Jesus has been my armor, my hope, my joy. Simply put, MY EVERYTHING!!
I will keep you updated and hopefully someone out here will be encouraged to keep moving. That it might seem like you’re juggling a lot but a time will come when you look back and can’t imagine how you made it through the storm!!
Blog-post from Esther Tot, who received the ESOMAR Foundation Scholarship to study at the English based Bachelor Degree program in International Business at the National University of Management (NUM) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
What is like to be a college junior? School was great, although, the third year was tough and quite stressful with a lot of assignments, projects, presentations, panda-eyes and sleepless nights.
However, no matter how hard it is, knowledge and education is a must, and just like a quote I keep telling myself, “I may not be the smartest person in the class, but I will surely do the best to succeed and graduate just like others”. Each year is exciting and interesting because I’ve got to study with many different teachers who are from diverse cultures and countries. It is so interesting that I can learn more about other countries and cultures through them even though I can’t go there directly. But in NUM they bring the countries and cultures to students and most of the time NUM also brings students there directly as well, which is so cool!
A week in my life of being a college junior
This is my third year and semester 1. I have an important 2 weeks’ straight session with Professor Anselm Vermeulen. He is from Holland, but currently lives in China and teaches in one of China’s most famous universities. I studied with him Operation Management. We have a research essay about Industry 4.0, 5.0, RFID and Barcode, and lastly, I have done a presentation about the Xiaomi company (Chinese technologies manufacturing company). On Tuesday I have Human Resource Management class with Mrs. Ros Chan Sophea. She is our Cambodian teacher. I have learned a lot about how to choose the right person for a job in the future. By learning about HRM I can prepare myself well for a job in the future as well. On Wednesday I have Mr. Nikhil Mani. He is Indian, but he graduated in Europe. I study with him about Public Relations and learn quite a lot about PR tools, and how PR teams handle company scandals, and how PR operates in companies. PR is one of the important teams in a company as well as the marketing team. On Thursday I have Ms. Mitsy Chanel-Blot. She is African-American. I study with her about Globalization II, which include histories, cultures, foods, religions, and people. She is also one of the funniest teachers we have this semester, and we really have fun studying with her because she makes learning fun. She is open-minded and a supportive teacher. And lastly Friday, I have Ms. Kerry Slattery. She teaches Marketing Management. We have been assigned a great project of making a proposal for Total Gas Station based on steering more men and adults to choose and trust in their gas stations and be their loyal customers. Only 3 teams were selected by Total and sadly my team was not among them. My team had a proposal about Jet-Ski Racing which has not yet been introduced in Cambodia. We wanted to bring that here, but we haven’t been selected, I hope maybe next time they will take our idea into consideration someday because Cambodian people and men here love sports so much.
Nonetheless, half of the students at my University now are on their joyful vacation, but my class hasn’t finished yet, we still got so much to go and maybe we will have a short break next month on March, which is also my birthday. On March 1st I will be 21 years old, I’m getting older! I will always be so much thankful for the precious gift of knowledge and education from the ESOMAR Foundation, WiRE and NUM and for giving me this special opportunity to be able to study at the university and graduate like other kids. This is more than what I could thank for. I am excited for the next journey to come, waiting for what I will be learning next in the second semester, can’t wait for that, especially to meet new teachers, and learn new knowledge about the courses and about diversifications through them as well, which is so interesting to me. I am looking forward to updating more about me during the short break and as well as back to school for the second semester.
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Violence against women is a global problem that crosses cultural, geographic, religious, social and economic lines. It is one of the most prevalent forms of human rights violations, and it deprives women of their right to live fulfilling social, economic and political lives. Violence against women causes a myriad of physical and mental health issues that span generations, and in some extreme cases, it can result in the loss of life.
Understanding the magnitude and trends of violence against women, as well as its root causes and consequences, is key to effectively addressing the problem at the individual, community and national levels. However, up until recently, very little was known about the actual prevalence and patterns of violence against women, especially domestic violence, in Mongolia. For the longest time, authorities depended only on the number of reported cases of domestic violence to estimate its prevalence in the country. But in most societies, including Mongolia, domestic violence is still surrounded by stigma and many incorrect notions, and so many cases go unreported.
To address this crucial gap in information, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Mongolia, together with the national government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), initiated the first ever nationwide study on gender-based violence (GBV) in the country. This is an important first step in a comprehensive four-year endeavor to combat GBV in Mongolia by strengthening national capacity for GBV prevention and response. With this study, policies and projects addressing GBV can be planned, developed, implemented, monitored and evaluated based on accurate data.
The nationwide study uncovered a multitude of issues and information on GBV in Mongolia, including the prevalence, forms, causes, risk factors, and effects of GBV. The study combined quantitative data based on the methodology developed by the World Health Organization for their Study on Violence Against Women, together with qualitative data based on methodologies used in other countries. While these borrowed methodologies and survey instruments were revised according to the nuances of Mongolian culture and context, adopting internationally used methodologies allowed for international comparisons and a solid substantiation of the indicators and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Given the ambitious scale of the project, UNFPA deemed it fit for the Mongolian National Statistics Office (NSO) to implement and manage the study. After all, as a government agency, their resources are already available for mobilization throughout the country. UNFPA provided extensive technical support to NSO, bringing in experts both from the UNFPA Mongolia office as well as its Asia-Pacific Regional Office. These experts guided NSO every step of the way – from developing the survey and planning its execution to enumerator training, from data analysis to report writing.
For the quantitative component of the study, a population-based household survey covering all 21 provinces of Mongolia and 9 districts of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar was implemented from May to June 2017. A total of 7,920 women (98% response rate) aged 15 to 64 years old were selected using a multi-stage sampling strategy to take part in face-to-face interviews for the survey. They represent all women aged 15-64 years old in Mongolia.
UNFPA and NSO also took extra measures to ensure that these women spoke candidly so that the study may accurately represent the true GBV situation in the country. The interviewers, who were all women, underwent an intensive three-week training to learn to collect information in a safe and sensitive way. The interviewers also referred to the study as “Women’s Health and Life Experience” to protect the interviewees and to encourage participation especially among households where GBV takes place.
To supplement the quantitative data, UNFPA and NSO added a qualitative component that is unique to Mongolia’s GBV study. A third-party research consulting firm was engaged to conduct a battery of qualitative methods to explain and validate the numerical results and to uncover details about the experiences of Mongolians in a way that the quantitative survey could not. Overall, 87 in-depth interviews, 59 key informant interviews, and 64 focus group discussions were conducted among not only women, but also the LGBTQI community, men, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
Combining the qualitative and quantitative methodologies produced a study with robust results that were analyzed in a more comprehensive and nuanced way. The study revealed the prevalence of the five forms of violence against women – physical, sexual, emotional, and economic violence as well as controlling behaviors – perpetrated by both partners and non-partners. The data was segregated by age group, province, urbanity, educational level, employment status, and partnership status. Additionally, the study also looked into the specific kind of violent acts per type of violence, as well as the underlying toxic beliefs and attitudes toward gender and relationships that contributed to the prevalence of GBV.
With the publication of the nationwide study, a communications campaign was launched to raise awareness about these statistics; the results were published in both English and Mongolian, multimedia content was produced, events were staged, and the raw data was made available to the public for free for their own analysis.
However, the numbers revealed by the study were staggering that conversations were forced among stakeholders. The survey showed that that more than half (57.9%) of Mongolian women experienced one or more forms of violence in their lifetime, and one in every three (31.2%) experience sexual or physical violence in their lifetime. More worrying still is that more often than not, the abuse is committed by their partner. These numbers were much higher than expected, and both government officials and the general public alike were forced to pay attention to what used to be the silent suffering of many. Longtime advocates of gender equality and the fight against GBV finally had the right data that can be used not only to create more relevant and better targeted initiatives, but also to persuade stakeholders, especially the national government, to invest resources in combating GBV.
Guided by the results of the study, UNFPA Mongolia, together with the national government and the SDC, was able to pinpoint ten locations for One Stop Service Centers, i.e., establishments that provide survivors of GBV with accommodations as well as health, psychological, legal, counselling, and protection services. These locations were chosen primarily on the basis of highest GBV prevalence rates compared to the national average, but with consideration given to geographical and population balance.
The high prevalence rates revealed by the study coupled with the tireless advocacy work of UNFPA and civil society actors convinced provincial authorities to invest financial and human resources toward GBV prevention and response in their territories. In 2018, 560 million Mongolian Tugriks (approx. USD 210,000) was invested by provincial governments toward the construction and operations of these One Stop Service Centers. This amount is almost double the amount spent by the Mongolian government in the last five years combined.
Beyond these initiatives, the results also proved useful for UNFPA and its implementing partners for behavior change campaigns. The data segregation allowed UNFPA and the Government of Mongolia to identify the most vulnerable demographics to target, while identification of the root causes of GBV guided the development of relevant and data-driven messages, particularly for campaigns that sought to educate the public about life skills and healthy relationship behaviors that can help them avoid and escape GBV.
With all the initiatives spurred toward combating GBV in Mongolia since the release of the landmark nationwide GBV study, its important role in the advocacy work to raise awareness and garner stakeholder support cannot be ignored. In fact, UNFPA is working closely with NSO and other key government ministries to amend the National Statistics Law to include the regular conduct of a nationwide GBV survey to better guide and monitor the work put into combating GBV in Mongolia in the coming years. Mongolia may still have a long way to go in the path toward eradicating GBV, but with reliable data, innovative solutions, and the untiring advocacy of many, there is surely hope that someday, we may have a violence-free society where the rights of women, children and men are respected and protected.
14 December 2018 – Paragon Partnerships, supported by ESOMAR Foundation, won the MRS President’s Medal which is awarded annually to an organisation that has conducted extraordinary research but who might not be recognised through the usual channels.
On choosing the winner, Jan Gooding, President of MRS, said:
“I was immensely impressed by what was achieved on a voluntary basis. It was a huge act of generosity on the part of everyone involved. At a time when the UN can find itself justifying its work and existence, when the problems in the world are so huge, this kind of collaboration to provide evidence of effectiveness is something to be celebrated and applauded.”
Paragon Partnerships was launched in 2016, by Stan Sthanunathan of Unilever, in response to the UN’s 17th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – the call for private sector partnerships to help the UN achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) by 2030.
The programme calls on the private sector to help the UN achieve its SDG’s by 2030. The UN SDG Action Campaign, along with Paragon Partnerships member Kantar Public, developed and tested a question library of almost 100 SDG questions. This huge project constituted the first step to enable countries to measure their journey to the accomplishment of the SDGs in a consistent way. Data from the library was presented at a UN High-Level Political Forum in July 2018 and is also publically available for any government organisation or NGO to use. Read more on Paragon and its relationship with the ESOMAR Foundation.
More information:
The UN SDG Action Campaignis an inter-agency special initiative of the UN Secretary-General to scale up, broaden, and sustain the global movement to take action for the SDGs. The UN SDG Action Campaign aims to mobilize and inspire individuals and organizations to take action and join the global movement for the SDGs, while connecting people’s actions and perceptions with decision makers in SDG planning and review processes at all levels.
Paragon Partnershipswas launched at Impact 2016, the MRS Annual Conference, by Stan Sthanunathan of Unilever in response to the UN’s 17th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG). The programme calls on the private sector to help the UN achieve the SDGs by 2030.
The Market Research Society (MRS) is the UK professional body for research, insight and analytics. MRS recognizes 5,000 individual members and over 500 accredited Company Partners in over 50 countries who are committed to delivering outstanding insight. As the regulator, they promote the highest professional standards throughout the sector via the MRS Code of Conduct.
Scholarship awarded to Maria Paola Loy Villagran in Guatemala to pursue MS in market research at Universidad Rafael Landivar
11 December 2018 – Amsterdam, NL – The ESOMAR Foundation—a charitable organization representing the market research industry—in cooperation with global non-profit Women in Research (WIRe) and Unilever, recently funded a scholarship benefiting a female student entering into an market research related field of study in Guatemala. The scholarship has been awarded to recipient Maria Paola Loy Villagran, who will be pursuing a Master of Science in Marketing with a focus on Market Research, at Universidad Rafael Landivar.
“We are ever so grateful to WIRe and Unilever for providing the opportunity to Paola to pursue her studies in the market research field,” says John Kearon, ESOMAR Foundation President. “It is through their generousity and support that we can ensure that talented students in need can fulfill their dream of a better life”
This year’s scholarship recipient, Maria Paola Loy Villagran, is a Guatemalan native from a disadvantaged socio-economic background. Through the scholarship, Paola will have the opportunity to pursue an advanced degree and, in the future, a career in market research. Through funding the education of women like Paola, the organizations involved help to advance the voice of women in the market research industry as well as the voice of Guatemalan women in the practice. Upon receiving word that the scholarship had been funded, Paola remarked that “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard WORK!”
Women in Research (WIRe) raised the funding for the scholarship through outreach to their global community, receiving a generous outpouring of gifts and support on Giving Tuesday: an international day of giving. These gifts were further supported by a matching donation from Unilever. WIRe is the only non-profit organization solely dedicated to the advancement of women and underrepresented communities in the market research industry, providing career development and educational opportunities for women while supporting a variety of diversity initiatives. Unilever, a global consumer goods company, with a strong focus on charitable initiatives, especially in emerging markets, matched the WIRe community’s contribution dollar for dollar for the scholarship fund. ESOMAR Foundation, WIRe and Unilever have previously collaborated to award scholarships in Kenya and Cambodia.
“We are thrilled that, for the third year in a row, the WIRe community and market research industry have come together to amplify underrepresented voices in this industry through the continued support of WIRe’s Global Scholarship Fund,” says Kristin Luck, founder of Women in Research, “The aims of the ESOMAR Foundation and this scholarship initiative align perfectly with WIRe’s mission to advance the contributions of women in market research while fostering a more vibrant and just industry for all. We’re pleased to offer this support to Paola as she advances in her studies with the goal of a career in Market Research and I’m humbled by the WIRe community’s continued enthusiasm regarding this initiative.”The ESOMAR Foundation and WIRe plan to continue to collaborate in 2019 to fund additional scholarship initiatives in emerging or disadvantaged markets.
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About ESOMAR Foundation
ESOMAR Foundation is a charitable Foundation representing the Market, Social and Opinion Research industry. Our industry has a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be applied to every aspect of society to ensure a more transparent, reliable and sustainable world. The ESOMAR Foundation is the charity arm of ESOMAR, the global industry association of market, social and opinion research. https://esomarfoundation.org
About Women in Research
Women in Research (WIRe) champions diversity in the marketing research industry by arming women with the tools to develop professionally, build connections and stay inspired. We believe in the positive impact of women in business. Our mission is to advance the contributions and voice of women in research, both for themselves and for the greater good of the industry. www.womeninresearch.org