Long Ung recounts her childhood in the Cambodian killing fields in her memoir, First they Killed my Father : A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers, adapted into a film in 2017. She is active in work on numerous campaigns aimed at ending violence against women, ceasing use of child soldiers, and banning landmines. As someone who knows firsthand the trauma of war, she is deeply committed to her humanitarian causes, yet she lives with unbounded optimism and compassion.