Synopsis: A joint initiative by an NGO and the Ministry of Social Affairs wins an international award as expansion plans press ahead.

A joint initiative between the government and an NGO to keep children out of prison has received international recognition, drawing attention to how small changes can steer youth towards a fresh start.

The iF Social Impact Prize 2026 was conferred on the Off-Ramps programme, developed by non-governmental organisation This Life, which has worked for nearly 20 years to keep minors out of prison, and endorsed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation.

The programme acts as a service-design exit path to divert children away from the prison system. It creates structural exit pathways at five points – arrest, pre-trial, early release, community transfer, and return home – connecting courts, families, and social agents to provide rehabilitation instead of incarceration.

The system relies on social agents appointed by the ministry and trained by the project. When a minor is apprehended, these agents step in to make cognitive, emotional and social assessments of the child. They also gather context regarding the child’s family, community and education and act as a bridge between the youth’s family, the police, and the court system to advocate for the minor.

“Cambodia’s law says prison is a last resort for children, yet no child had ever been offered another path. Off-Ramps designed that path, step by step, with police, judges and families. The first four children (on the programme) finished it with no criminal record,” the iF jury said in a statement.

Billy Gorter, executive director of This Life, said what differentiates Off-Ramps from other such programmes is partnership with the government.

“For 15 years, This Life has worked alongside the Cambodian government, not around it, and in that time we have built something that matters more than any single programme,” he said.

“We have built trust. Progress happens at the speed of trust, and Off-Ramps is what that trust makes possible.”

According to Gorter, earlier efforts to reform juvenile justice often stopped at the edge of the system. They could describe the problem, but they could not change what happened to a child at the police station, in the courtroom, or on the day of release.

“Off-Ramps, designed and run by This Life with government social agents, is different because it works inside the system, at every point where a child’s case can still turn,” he said.

“When a child comes into conflict with the law, a This Life Social Agent, accredited by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, connects police, courts, families and local services to a practical alternative to detention. That might be counselling, education, vocational training, family support, or supervised community options.”

This Life has now helped secure over 200 court-ordered diversions and alternatives to custodial sentences.

“Children who would once have gone to prison are back in school, learning a trade, and at home with their families, with no criminal record to follow them through life,” Gorter said.

“When you keep a child out of prison and connect them to opportunity, they do not come back into the justice system. That is a better outcome for the child, for the family, and for the safety of the whole community.”

The recognition comes as This Life prepares to launch its 2027 – 2032 Strategic Plan, built from more than 50 community dialogues across Cambodia. The plan sets out how This Life will work over the next five years across five areas: justice reform, so fewer children are held in prison; keeping families and communities together; safer childhoods; opportunities for young people to build sustainable livelihoods; and systems change and learning, so that what works can be shared and scaled.

At the centre of the plan is the National Blueprint for Scaling Off-Ramps, written by This Life and endorsed by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation. The minister has signed a letter of support for the Blueprint, which sets out a pathway for bringing off-ramps to children in all 25 provinces.

“None of this would exist without the government’s willingness to walk this road with us. That is the real lesson. When civil society and government work together, Cambodia can fast-track change that would otherwise take a generation,” Gorter said.

“This prize belongs to Cambodia. It belongs to our Cambodian social workers and to the police, judges and families who chose a different path for children. Cambodia already has the law. With the ministry’s support for the blueprint, we now have a shared plan to make it real for children in every province, and the world is noticing.”

“The lessons This Life is learning here can support reform in other countries, and I believe Cambodia can become a shining light on juvenile justice. This may surprise some, but in parts of the world that are considered advanced, the direction of travel is backwards,” Gorter said.

“In Australia, for instance, public sentiment towards children in conflict with the law has hardened, and reform has stalled. Cambodia can demonstrate the opposite: that when a good law is in place and it is genuinely followed, the outcomes for children can put a country ahead of others, not behind them,” he added.

These examples show why community sentiment matters as much as law, the NGO director said.

“Cambodia has a real chance to lead here and to show that a child in conflict with the law is still a child with a future,” Gorter said. “Cambodia is ready to be a pathfinding country on juvenile justice, and This Life and the Ministry have laid the groundwork.”

He called on Cambodia’s international partners to help fund the expansion so that no child is sent to prison who does not need to be.

The iF Social Impact Prize is awarded each year by iF Design, based in Germany, to projects that make a real difference to people’s lives. This Life will launch its Strategic Plan in Australia this month and in Cambodia in December.