UNESCO and the organization Conserve Indigenous Peoples Languages (CIPL) have launched a new project to empower indigenous communities in Cambodia and amplify their voices in the media.

Through this partnership, UNESCO and CIPL will work with indigenous youth in Preah Vihear, Mondulkiri, and Ratanakiri provinces to enhance their media, information, and digital literacy, to critically access, evaluate and use digital content to make informed decisions and participate in national development processes.

The project will address the challenges that these communities face, including the limited access to information in their mother tongues in the media, which often lead to the exclusion of their voices from public debates and discussions.

By enhancing the skills and abilities of indigenous youth to create and share news content in their native languages, the project will help amplify their voices and raise awareness about issues, which are important for their communities, and call for an effective response from the relevant authorities.

As part of this project, a group of 30 youth will undergo comprehensive capacity building programmes. These trainings will cover various aspects such as mobile reporting, content production, and the global principles on freedom of expression and digital rights. Following the trainings, the youth reporters will establish five dedicated Facebook pages, each representing a different indigenous language.

The objective is to publish weekly content in their respective indigenous languages on these pages, ensuring a consistent flow of information and engagement with their communities and act as a space to generate debate and discussions amongst their communities on matters that affect them. Furthermore, the contents produced will have a strong awareness raising component to allow the indigenous peoples better understand their rights and consume information in a more critical way.

Mr. Naung Sam Oeung, the Executive Director of CIPL, says that “This collaboration with UNESCO holds immense value for our indigenous community as it enables us to amplify our voices through various media platforms. It plays a crucial role in supporting our community media program, empowering indigenous youth in Cambodia by enhancing their media literacy and digital skills”.

The project is supported by UNESCO’s International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).  UNESCO’s IPDC supports media projects in developing countries and strives to create a conducive environment for the growth of free and pluralistic media.

Read more about UNESCO’s technical support on the development of Cambodia’s National Media, Information and Digital Literacy Competency Framework, directly contributing to its national priority on inclusive digital transformation. UNESCO

• Tags: CIPL, UNESCO