Cambodia marked a milestone in digital governance with its first Internet Governance Forum, launching Internet Universality recommendations to advance inclusive, rights-based digital transformation.
Phnom Penh, 6 December 2025 — Cambodia marked a major milestone in its digital governance journey with the convening of the first-ever Cambodia Internet Governance Forum (CamIGF), co-hosted by the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC), UNESCO, the Cambodia Academy of Digital Technology (CADT), and Open Development Cambodia (ODC). The Forum brought together government representatives, civil society, media, academia, the private sector, youth groups, and marginalized communities to engage in open and inclusive dialogue on Cambodia’s digital future.
The CamIGF represents a concrete and strategic follow-up to the Internet Universality Indicators (IUI) assessment, conducted by UNESCO and CADT under the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC). Grounded in UNESCO’s ROAM-X principles—Human Rights, Openness, Accessibility, and Multistakeholder participation—the assessment recommended the establishment of a national Internet Governance Forum as a platform for inclusive, transparent, and evidence-based digital policymaking. With the official launch of the IUI recommendations at this Forum, Cambodia is translating assessment findings into real institutional action.
Opening the Forum, H.E. Dr. Chea Vandeth, Minister of Post and Telecommunications, welcomed the launch of the IUI recommendations and applauded the establishment of the CamIGF as a critical step toward strengthening Cambodia’s digital governance ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of coordinated action across sectors to ensure that digital transformation benefits all Cambodians.
In her opening remarks, Ms Esther McFarlane, Officer-in-Charge of the UNESCO Office in Phnom Penh, highlighted the significance of the Forum as a clear demonstration of national ownership of UNESCO-supported assessments “The launch of the Internet Universality recommendations today, alongside Cambodia’s first Internet Governance Forum, shows that evidence matters—and that Cambodia is acting on it. By transforming the IUI findings into an inclusive national platform for dialogue, Cambodia is taking concrete steps to ensure that its digital transformation is people-centred, rights-based, and inclusive.”
Indeed, the CamIGF follows closely on the National Conference on AI for Education, convened just weeks earlier as a follow-up to UNESCO’s AI Ethics Readiness Assessment (RAM). Together, these two national platforms demonstrate that UNESCO’s technical support through both the RAM and the IUI is being taken seriously and transformed into tangible national actions, reinforcing Cambodia’s commitment to evidence-informed digital governance.
The 2025 edition of the CamIGF was held under the theme “Building Cambodia’s Inclusive Digital Society,” reflecting the country’s ambition to ensure that digital transformation is inclusive, trusted, and equitable. Discussions throughout the Forum focused on online safety in the age of AI, universal access and meaningful connectivity, youth participation, and digital rights—key pillars for building a resilient digital ecosystem.
Emphasizing the multistakeholder foundation of the Forum, Mr. Thy Try, Executive Director of Open Development Cambodia and a member of the Cambodia IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group, highlighted the importance of open and inclusive dialogue “The Cambodia IGF is built on a simple but powerful principle: the development and governance of the internet must be guided by open, inclusive, and transparent dialogue. Bringing together government, civil society, the private sector, academia, and communities create the collaborative space needed to shape a digital future that serves all Cambodians.”
READ MORE: https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/cambodia-launches-internet-universality-recommendations-first-national-internet-governance-forum
