From Australia to 16 countries: World Vision’s 1,000 Girls campaign returns with Jelena Dokic
World Vision Australia’s flagship 1,000 Girls campaign returns for its eighth year, partnering with former tennis champion, bestselling author, commentator and Logie winner Jelena Dokic for an integrated campaign created and produced entirely in-house.
First developed in Australia in 2018, 1,000 Girls has grown from a local campaign into a global creative platform now activated across 16 countries. To date, the campaign has helped sponsor more than 50,000 vulnerable girls around the world and positively impacted the lives of more than 250,000 people.
This year marks an evolution of the platform, with Dokic travelling to Bangladesh to meet girls affected by child marriage, violence and exploitation. Her lived experience and advocacy around gendered violence provided an authentic connection to the campaign’s purpose, with the creative deliberately placing the girls she meets at the centre of the storytelling.
Among them is Ruby, an 18-year-old mother of two who was forced into child marriage and violence before being abandoned to raise her daughters alone. While Ruby believes her own opportunities have been cut short, she dreams of a different life for her children – one filled with education, safety and opportunity.
Her story, alongside those of other girls featured throughout the campaign, forms the emotional backbone of the creative.
The integrated campaign spans television, out-of-home, social, paid digital, advertorial and PR, with Dokic’s journey explored more deeply through a six-part YouTube documentary series filmed in Bangladesh.
Content featuring 1,000 Girls ambassadors from previous years is also being reactivated across paid social, extending the life and value of the platform’s growing storytelling library.
Says Rory Ellis, Creative Director, World Vision Australia: “When we launched 1,000 Girls, our ambition was simple – to help Australians connect with the lives of girls around the world and understand both the challenges they face and the futures they are fighting for.
“Our belief is that the most powerful storytelling starts with a human truth and insight is told through real people and real stories.
“Jelena brings an extraordinary level of empathy and understanding to this campaign. Her own lived experience means she approaches these conversations with genuine care, but her role and ambition is to help create space for the girls and their stories to be heard.
“We want Australians to feel like they are travelling alongside Jelena – meeting these girls, hearing from them directly and understanding not only what they are up against, but their strength, hopes and ambitions for the future.”
Every year, an estimated 12 million girls are married before the age of 18 – the equivalent of one girl every three seconds. In Bangladesh, almost half of all girls marry before turning 18, rising to as high as 65 per cent in poorer rural communities.
The campaign aims to inspire Australians to sponsor 1,000 vulnerable girls by International Day of the Girl on 11 October, while deepening public understanding of the systemic barriers girls face and the positive long-term impact of community-led development.
www.worldvision.com.au/sponsor-a-girl
Client: World Vision Australia
Creative Director: Rory Ellis
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