International Girls in ICT Day 2026 in Cambodia Shows Girls’ Potential to Lead in AI for Cambodia’s Future
- Sisters of Code
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
On a Saturday afternoon, 25 April 2026, hundreds of students, teachers, and guests from government ministries, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations gathered to celebrate International Girls in ICT Day 2026, initiated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), under the theme AI for Development: Girls Shaping the Digital Future.
International Girls in ICT Day 2026 in Cambodia was hosted in Cambodia through a collaboration between the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Sisters of Code, and IT Academy STEP Cambodia, with generous support from the Liechtenstein Development Service (LED). Grounded in the local theme Girls Building AI for Cambodia’s Development, the event reflected a shared commitment to empowering young women in technology. It was further supported by media partners Breakthrough and RULErs, as well as in-kind sponsor Smart Axiata, all of whom helped amplify the reach and impact of the celebration.
Around 300 participants joined the event, with over 90% being female, highlighting the strong and growing interest among girls in tech.
The celebration began with a welcoming video from Mrs. Natalja Rodionova, Founder of Sisters of Code and Managing Director of IT Academy STEP Cambodia. In line with the theme, she used Generative AI (Gemini) to create the video, showcasing how AI today can generate images, videos, and text. She also emphasized an important message that while AI is powerful, it is still imperfect and requires human guidance to ensure it reflects human intent and values.
Mr. Pius Frick, Country Coordinator at the Liechtenstein Development Service (LED), also joined the event and shared reflections on the historical role of women in technology. He highlighted that women have long contributed to technological development, although their participation declined, such as in Cambodia. However, he noted a positive shift, with more and more girls now showing interest in and moving toward technology fields.
Finally, Mr. Frick expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications and Sisters of Code for creating a meaningful space where girls interested in ICT can come together, connect, and be inspired.
A keynote address was then delivered by Mrs. Tan Sodany, Director of the ICT Policy Department at the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC), on The Role of Girls and Women in AI Development in Cambodia. Mrs. Sodany highlighted pioneering women in technology, including Ada Lovelace, reminding the audience that women have always been part of technological progress.
She then connected this global history to the Cambodian context, where more women are increasingly entering the tech sector. Mrs. Sodany encouraged participants to stay curious about technology regardless of their academic background or future career path, and emphasized that Cambodia needs more women in tech to help shape its digital future.
The event then moved into the Women in AI Talk titled AI Careers in Cambodia: Real Stories, Real Opportunities. The panel featured Ms. Chea Chandara, Cloud and AI Specialist at MPTC, Ms. Samnang Vitheavy Chief Technology Officer at SoulAdvisor, and Ms. Seath Chhunlay, AI Ready ASEAN Master Trainer and education counsellor.
Moderated by Ms. Nasa Dip, Project Coordinator at MPTC, the discussion opened with each panelist sharing their personal journey into tech and AI, many of which were unexpected paths. Their stories created a relatable and inspiring moment for students still exploring their future careers. They also shared real challenges and opportunities in the field, helping participants better understand what working in AI actually looks like in practice.
Another key highlight of the afternoon was the presentation titled Decode Coding Using AI: How AI Is Making Programming Accessible to Everyone, delivered by Ms. Samnang Vitheavy. She demonstrated how AI tools are transforming the way people learn coding, making programming more accessible even to beginners without a technical background.
This was followed by one of the most significant and memorable sessions of the event, the live coding demonstration Girls Can Code with AI, led by Sisters of Code Ambassadors 2026, Ms. Sam Leak Proapey and Ms. Sang Sreyroth.
In this session, the two students demonstrated how AI can be used to create a website. They invited the audience to choose a topic from three options, and together they selected STEM education as the focus. The ambassadors used pre-prepared prompts and entered them into Google AI Studio, generating a website within minutes.
Through this live demonstration, one message stood out clearly. AI is a powerful tool, but it is not a replacement for human thinking. It requires creativity, critical thinking, and ethical responsibility. Most importantly, it showed that girls are fully capable of learning, building, and leading with AI when given the right opportunities and support.
The event concluded with closing remarks by Mrs. Chin Dalin, Project Leader of Sisters of Code at IT Academy STEP Cambodia Institute, who thanked all participants, speakers, and partners for contributing to a space where girls are not only learning about technology, but actively seeing themselves as future builders of it.
As AI continues to shape our world, the question is no longer whether girls can be part of it, but how we can continue to create more opportunities for them to lead. Join us in building a future where every girl in Cambodia has the confidence, skills, and support to shape technology, not just use it.
This year’s celebration was a clear success, as reflected in the survey feedback. Participants shared very positive experiences overall, with high satisfaction across all key areas, including event organization, content quality, and engagement. Notably, all respondents (100%) expressed their interest in joining the celebration again next year, showing the strong impact and meaningful value the event brought to participants.
Sisters of Code is deeply grateful to our co-organizers, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications (MPTC) and IT Academy STEP Cambodia, as well as our donor, the Liechtenstein Development Service (LED), for making this event possible. As a non-profit digital education program for girls, we are also honored to be part of the global celebration of International Girls in ICT Day and to bring this meaningful initiative to Cambodia.
We remain committed to our mission to empower girls to become confident, responsible, and creative users and creators in technology, and we will continue working to expand opportunities for them in the digital future.
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