Kantar Public’s Voice of Ukraine Wins the 2023 TCF Industry Innovation Award
The Tony Cowling Foundation is delighted to announce Kantar Public’s Voice of Ukraine has won its 2023 Industry Innovation Award. Voice of Ukraine is a longitudinal and systematic collection of migration paths, needs and expectations of Ukrainians, primarily women, displaced through war. The programme is running across Europe.
Much has been learned that challenges the prevailing views of European media and national institutions but also about their expectations of change when they return to Ukraine. Voice of Ukraine identified the dynamics of migration flows, but also the reasons for choosing a host country: presence of a diaspora, ease to return to Ukraine, access to the labour market. All of which helps to explain why Poland is the host country of choice for 1.5mn Ukrainians.
Commenting on why the programme was launched, Yves Fradier, Director Kantar Public said: “The voices of those affected deserve to be heard and taken into account, as we learned from the fight against AIDS 40 years ago. We wanted to help inform public policy by producing data that was as solid as possible, given the circumstances.”
Judith Passingham, Chair of the Judging panel added: “The panel was particularly impressed by the fact that this case was researching displaced populations in their own voice. With an estimated 108 million people forcibly displaced on a global basis, the ability of the research industry to reach these populations and inform Policy makers and providers is essential. This case is an important reminder of the role of researchers in enabling everyone to have a voice.”
Panu Poutvaara, of the economic think tank Ifo Institute, Munich has said: “Return plans of Ukrainian refugees are crucial for Ukraine’s future prospects after the war, and the survey by Kantar Public provides valuable insights on this.”
In 2023 innovations were submitted from 15 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East touching everything from novel approaches to data collection, improved analytics, emerging global issues and the evergreen challenges of speed and quality.
In reflecting on this year’s award entrants, the Board of the Tony Cowling Foundation, Dr Christopher Goard, commented: “We were struck by the range of business challenges addressed by the innovations this year as well as the range of business models. We look forward to sharing the work of all our finalists in the coming months.”