Call for Participants: "Reaching Marginalized Communities"

Media and Information Literacy (MIL), the ability to access, critically evaluate, and safely engage with information and media, is an essential life skill. It is becoming ever more important as digitalization and Artificial Intelligence (AI) profoundly change how information is created, shared, and consumed.

These changes affect marginalized communities in Cambodia in particular. Groups such as indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, or rural or remote populations often face compounded barriers to freedom of expression, access to information, and safe digital participation – and young people within these communities are especially exposed to risks such as disinformation, hate speech, AI-generated deepfakes, and online scams, while often having the fewest resources to protect themselves.

DW Akademie, Deutsche Welle's center for international media development, journalism training, and knowledge transfer, is organizing a half-day conference to bring together representatives of marginalized communities from across Cambodia, give space to their voices, and better understand how MIL work can reach and support them –especially young people.

The conference takes place on Sunday, October 25, 2026, immediately following the international "Youth Meets Media" conference (October 23–24, 2026, also organized by DW Akademie in Phnom Penh), which brings together youth and MIL stakeholders from across Central and Southeast Asia. While the two events are connected and share a venue, this half-day conference is a separate, standalone event held specifically for Cambodian participants, in English and Khmer (simultaneous interpretation).

Target Participants

• Up to 30 participants from across Cambodia (not limited to Phnom Penh). This is an open call to actively participate and, optionally, prepare a short presentation — DW Akademie will select participants (and, among them, presenters) based on their motivation and how well their profile fits the conference's objectives.
• Priority given to youth from marginalized communities, alongside community leaders, youth representatives, and members of local NGOs/CSOs.

Deadline for applications: August 9, 2026. 

Find all application details and guidelines in the downloads section below.