PHL to host UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2027
05 November 2026
The Philippines will host the Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week next year, following the country’s push to strengthen critical media and digital competencies, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
UNESCO Representative Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa at the Philippine Media and Information Literacy Conference (MILCON) 2026 in Quezon City, Nov. 5, 2026. — ALMIRA MARTINEZ
“On the 3rd of November, UNESCO issued a response to the request and the kind offer from the President’s Communications Office of their willingness to host,” UNESCO Representative Maki Katsuno-Hayashikawa said at the Philippine Media and Information Literacy Conference (MILCON) 2026.
“This will be, I think, one of the first global MIL conferences in Asia, here in Southeast Asia,” she added. “We are looking forward to our continued collaboration and working together to bring the global MIL community here to Quezon City.”
The annual event, observed from Oct. 24 to 31, aims to underscore the need for factual, timely, targeted, clear, accessible, multilingual, and science-based information in the digital space.
Stakeholders worldwide are expected to discuss how to raise awareness and competency in data gathering and sharing, as well as celebrate progress toward digital literacy worldwide.
“With the global MIL week happening at the end of October, we have a series of activities happening in different countries and even within the country at some national level,” Ms. Katsuno-Hayashikawa said.
“We are very happy to see that countries in our region are actively engaged in promoting MIL,” she added. “One of the key strategies in MIL is advocacy, raising, empowering, and coming together so I think this event should be continued within the region.”
UNESCO Global MIL Week 2027 will cover exchanges of good practices and research, as well as emerging information and challenges in artificial intelligence and issues on children living in a “very challenging world.”
City Mayor Maria Josefina “Joy” G. Belmonte said that, as the host of the global event, Quezon City is actively promoting MIL across its community.
“Being chosen by UNESCO as an MIL City comes with responsibility and programs that must be promoted and valued dearly,” she told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
“One of those is to make sure that our citizens in all sectors are given the opportunity to be part of the dialogue or discourse,” she added. “Since much of that discourse happens online, we need to train our citizens to be part of that community. We should not discriminate.”
UNESCO Global MIL Week 2026 was previously held as a hybrid international congress with multiple flagship events hosted across several countries and cities worldwide. — Almira Louise S. Martinez
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