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Communication of Diversity: A Voice from Stateless Youth The series of workshops on “Creative and Strategic Communication for Sustainability'' organized by UNDP and Realframe with the support from the European Union to build capacity for ethnic minorities on their communication skills.

“I used to keep a diary on my Facebook page. I wrote about the challenges I faced as a stateless youth with no identification, the way of life in my community, and festivals. At one point, I felt stuck. I did not know what to write, so I stopped,” said Saengsa, an 18-year-old Shan youth.

Communication serves as a powerful tool to convey stories to society. However, writing one is not easy. It requires critical thinking and a careful choice of words. If we want to hear more stories from marginalized people, it is important to build their capacity in order to communicate their stories.

Saengsa and her infographic presentation during the workshop

The series of workshops on “Creative and Strategic Communication for Sustainability'' organized by UNDP and Realframe with the support from the European Union, consist of 3 workshops to build capacity for ethnic minorities on their communication skills including: writing, photography, videography, infographic design and live streaming. This activity was inspired by the idea that everyone has their own stories to tell. But we rarely hear from marginalized people, so we may not be aware of the diversity that exists within our society. What if we can empower marginalized people to tell their stories? We may be able to create a society where diversity is embraced, and difference is respected.

After attending the first workshop on writing skills, Saengsa reflected on her experience from the past 3 days.

“After joining this workshop, I realized that there are many things that I did not know, for example, how to design content based on a target audience, or how to come up with the title of an article. I liked the hands-on learning process and the feedback allowed us to improve our work. I have learned how to be more strategic in communicating the challenges of stateless people to the wider audience, while considering my own safety.”

The writing skill workshop is only one component of the Creative and Strategic Communication for Sustainability Workshop.

Thai version available below

Stay tuned for more stories from participants! Learn more about UNDP in Thailand