‘Invisible Helpers’ short film shortlisted for U.N Award

An animation created by Brooke called ‘Invisible Helpers – Working Livestock in Sustainable Development’ was shortlisted for a people's choice award in the SDGS in Action Film Festival, run by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (U.N DESA). Brooke narrowly missed out on winning the award, coming in third place. It was announced on 12 July at the SDGs in Action Film Festival.

Brooke’s animation is set in Kenya and tells the tale of Mwende, a woman representative of many across the world in low-and-middle-income countries who rely on working horses, donkeys and mules for daily tasks like collecting food and water, and getting their children to school. They also give women a stronger social status in communities, by giving them more time to participate in community meetings and other key societal roles.

Anna Marry, Brooke’s Global Communications Manager who co-led the creation of the animation with Ellie Suttle said:

“I hope Mwende’s story will shed light on the contribution of working livestock to meeting the sustainable development goals, particularly SDG 5 – gender equality. That way, these invisible helpers can be included in policy and programmes as essential livelihoods assets.”

The film was originally created to mark the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in 2019, where Brooke addressed a plenary session, highlighting how 100 million working horses, donkeys and mules support the lives of around 600 million people in low-and-middle-income countries around the world.

The animation was created by Wonky Films, and included extensive collaboration with Brooke staff including Anna Marry, Ellie Suttle and Lyne Iyadi. Lyne, who works for Brooke East Africa, even provided the voiceover for the film.

We would like to thank everyone who voted for us, and helped to spread the message across social media.