E VA LUAT ION R E P OR T 2 02 3

Executive summary
Cambodia
Anchoring MIL in Cambodia: Increasing young
Cambodians’ resilience to disinformation

dw-akademie.com

BackgroundThe situation for civil society in Cambodia
has changed considerably in recent years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, further limitations on press freedom aswell as on freedom of expression were imposed. The number of independent media
organizations has also decreased in recentyears, restricting access to information.
A large share of the predominantly young
population has turned to social media platforms to find relevant information and tocommunicate with others. However, many
young people lack the media skills to seekout relevant content in social media, to reflect on it and to judge its quality. Cambodia’s youth is therefore susceptible to disinformation and polarization.
The project increases the resilience ofyoung Cambodians to disinformation in
the digital sphere. They learn to find comprehensive information, to think critically,
as well as to act reflectively, safely, andsecurely in public discourse. The project
objective (outcome) is as follows: “Mediaand Information Literacy (MIL) is further
developed and institutionally anchoredin Cambodia”. DW Akademie and its partners believe that the field of MIL opens up
opportunities to increase civic participation and to support young Cambodians’
efforts to contribute to their country’sdevelopment.
DW Akademie's local partners are theDepartment of Information Technology(DIT) at the Ministry of Education, Youthand Sport (MoEYS) with Open Institute(OI) as project implementer; the media
NGOs Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM), and the Women's Media Centre of Cambodia (WMC), as well as
the Department for Media and Communication (DMC) at the Royal University ofPhnom Penh (RUPP).
The current term of the BMZ-funded project is from January 2021 to December
2023. The aim of this evaluation is a formative examination of the project after

approximately two-thirds of the project
duration. It is scheduled in this phase of
the project so that the findings and experiences (lessons learned) can be incorporated into the remaining project durationand into potential follow-up project applications. The approach of a process evaluation applied here focuses on internal
project issues, including the assessmentof the implementation of project activities and the quality of project work. Furthermore, a focus was also placed on theadaptive capacities of DW Akademie andits local partner organizations. The evaluation assessed the extent to which theproject was strategically and operationally positioned to respond to crises.
The OECD/DAC criteria functioned asreference and guide the design and implementation of the evaluation. The
evaluation began in November 2022 andconcluded at the end of March 2023. The
field phase in Cambodia was from 3 to 17
February 2023.

Project evaluation resultsRelevance: The relevance of the activities
that DW Akademie and its cooperation
partners conduct in Cambodia is rated
high by all participants. Young people
primarily get information via social media. Most of them are not aware of themechanisms of disinformation and otherrisks of digital communication. In summary, the project’s relevance was rated
as “comprehensively fulfilled”.
Coherence: The MIL Kh network initiated by DW Akademie in 2022 ensuresmore coherence overall between individual MIL actors. It offers a space forexchange and the possibility to createsynergies. So far, there is contact, but
it seems to be expandable and is not
intrinsically motivated. In summary theproject’s coherence is rated as “overallfulfilled”.
Effectiveness: The cooperation with thepartners MoEYS and CCIM can be described as effective insofar as the project
activities reach many final beneficiaries
and improve their lives. Training local

MIL trainers has made it possible to expand the project objectives and to reach
final beneficiaries even beyond the project duration. In summary the project’s
effectiveness was rated as “overall fulfilled”.
Efficiency: Overall, the project is assessed to be efficient in its implementation. In particular, the changeover fromface-to-face to online workshops dueto the COVID-19 pandemic has mostly
worked smoothly. In summary the project’s efficiency was rated as “overall fulfilled”.
Impact: Due to the various cooperations,
the MIL project reaches quite a diverse
target group: different levels of civil society through the activities in non-formal education (CCIM and WMC), as well
as schoolteachers and their students
through the formal education activities
conducted with MoEYS/DIT. This speaks
for a broad impact of the activities. Insummary, the project’s impact was rated
as “comprehensively fulfilled”.

Sustainability: Especially the structural approach in the cooperation withMoEYS/DIT promises sustainable changes in the MIL sector, as the topic has been
integrated into the national curriculum.
Likewise, CCIM has incorporated MIL into
its corporate goals and now has its own
MIL programme. In summary the project’s sustainability was rated as “overallfulfilled”.
Adaptive capacity: The global COVID-19
pandemic posed an unforeseen challenge
to the project. But it also demonstrated
that DW Akademie and its partners cooperate well even in times of crisis. The
partners were able to react promptly tomake the necessary changes. Together,
they adapted training plans from faceto-face to online formats, so that despite
delays in implementation, activities could
still take place. Partners have also demonstrated their adaptive capacity in theirhandling of current media developments.
Social media trends are slowly changing
in Cambodia. While Facebook and Telegram are still the primary social media

used, DW Akademie’s partners are moving
towards other channels (such as TikTok andInstagram) and are incorporating thesetrends into their strategy development.

Selected lessons learned– Experience during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the staff of all participating organizations on the Cambodian side were competent, tech-savvy,
interested in change and committed.
This made timely adjustments to project
activities possible (e.g., shifting to thedigital sphere).
– As a consequence of the pandemic, faceto-face curricula had to be converted toonline training sessions. The joint revision by DW Akademie trainers and representatives of the project partners has
strengthened the cooperation. Furthermore, it has increased the competenciesof the implementing partners, as theirtrainers are now also empowered to provide training online.
– The digital gap between urban/rural,
old/young, and to some extent between
rich/poor, is narrowing in Cambodia. The
country is moving closer together digitally; the potential target group of theproject is growing. This is crucial for thefurther dissemination of the MIL concept, which must constantly be adaptedand developed.
– In this project, DW Akademie cooperates
with the government (MoEYS) and civilsociety organizations (CCIM, WMC) alikein a trustful and transparent manner.
This has helped build bridges between
the partners, create common ground,and safeguarded the project’s manoeuvring space.
– DW Akademie founded the MIL Kh network to support the exchange between
MIL actors and stakeholders in Cambodia. MIL Kh has the potential to strengthen the effectiveness of MIL activities,
generate synergies and reduce the potential for conflict between differentMIL actors. The exchange, however, has
so far always relied on DW Akademie’sinitiative, funding and still lacks local
ownership.

Selected recommendations– The project's target group should beexpanded to include students of all disciplines, primary school pupils, school
dropouts, as well as vulnerable groups
such as indigenous people, the LGBTQ
community, and the rural population.

– Compared to neighboring Thailand andSingapore, Cambodia has few influencers to insert innovative ideas into thepublic debate. In that respect, Cambodia
could benefit from greater internationalexchange.

– DW Akademie is aware of other exchange formats between MIL actors in
Cambodia (such as UNESCO). However,a better use of synergies and resources between existing exchange formats
seems desirable. DW Akademie should
also deepen its exchange with new actors in the field of MIL and digitalization
to use and support their potential for innovation.

– Cambodian influencers could be involved in the dissemination of MIL. An
initial discussion with individual influencers has already taken place at thelocal level and some have already beenrecruited for the MIL Kh network.

DW Akademie
is Deutsche Welle's center forinternational media development,journalism training and knowledgetransfer. Our projects strengthen thehuman right to freedom of expression
and unhindered access to information.
DW Akademie empowers people
worldwide to make independent
decisions based on reliable facts andconstructive dialogue.
DW Akademie is a strategic partnerof the German Federal Ministry
for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment. We also receive funding
from the Federal Foreign Office andthe European Union and are active inmore than 70 developing countries
and emerging economies.

CONTAC T
Dr. Laura Moore
Head Research and Evaluation
laura.moore@dw.com
Berlin, Germany

DWAkademie@dw_akademie
DWAkademie
dw.com/newsletter-registration
dw.com/mediadev

The objective of the external evaluation is to provide a constructive assessment of the project results. It does not necessarily align with theperspective and planning of DW Akademie. Nevertheless, all findings were discussed in order to allow lessons learned to be incorporated into
the development of future strategies.