From September 14-27, the Mekong School hosted a Video Advocacy Workshop for grassroots activists challenging forced displacement in Asia . Working closely with regional human rights and popular media organizations, the International Accountability Project (IAP), WITNESS, the Unit for Social and Environmental Research (USER), the Malaysian NGO Komas, and ERI collaborated to bring together a diverse group of community activists, filmmakers and civil society advocates who are determined to incorporate video advocacy as a powerful tool in their work to expose and demand accountability for forced displacement caused by development projects.

Mekong School alumni Si Phoung and Khun Chankhee (Burma 2006) participated in the training, along with fifteen other activists from around the region, gaining valuable video documentation skills. The workshop culminated in a screening of short films made by participants. Si Phoung and Khun Chankhee are currently working together to create a documentary about forcibly displaced Burmese communities in Thailand, with the goal of raising awareness among the Thai public, and several alumni have expressed interest in hosting similar video workshops in their communities.

Click here for the introductory vlog , and then check out updates of their training here (part 2) and here (part 3) to listen to the activists speak about their projects and explain how video will help strengthen their advocacy goals.