Regional NGO Roundtable Social Movement Festival 2025

November 3, 2025

www.socialmovementfestival.org

“Reimagining Youth Activism: How Youth Can Create Self-empowered Movements In Southeast Asia”

We are pleased to announce the Social Movement Festival (SMF) 2025, an annual event launched by Vietnam Rise that celebrates grassroots successes and actions, exchange strategies, and collaborate on strengthening social movements across Southeast Asia. SMF 2025 will be co-organized by Vietnam Rise, CALD Youth, and CSO Academy.

Taking place on November 3, 2025, the event explores the theme ‘Reimagining Youth Activism: How Youth Can Create Self-empowered Movements In Southeast Asia’. The aim is to chart a regionally focused path forward that maximizes youth autonomy and strengthens their role as key drivers of social change, particularly considering a backdrop of worsening authoritarianism and democratic recession.

Topics will include strategies for optimizing resources, sustaining morale, and safeguarding both team members and target communities from political scrutiny. Through peer-to-peer exchange, participants will share tactics and experiences drawn from their own movements, spanning environmental justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and political participation.

We aim to bring together a carefully selected group of 50 participants including,             youth activists from various social and political movements across Southeast Asia,           civil society organizations (CSOs) focused on movement building and youth empowerment,  actors supporting youth organizing and social movements in the region, students engaged in civic or social initiatives, donors interested in youth-led work in Southeast Asia,  and tech experts and platforms.

Please note that participation is by-invitation and registered only.  Confirmed participants will be informed of the exact location closer to the date.

For more information, please contact smf@vietnamrise.org.

Co-organizers

Vietnam Rise: Vietnam Rise promotes social movements by empowering leaders and connecting local communities in Vietnam through training and social movement incubation. Vietnam Rise believes that local, decentralized, civic, issue-focused campaigns are key drivers for social change within reach in Vietnam

CALD Youth: The CALD Youth is the youth-segment of CALD (Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats), a regional alliance of liberal and democratic political parties and organizations across Asia. It serves as a platform for young leaders, activists, and aspiring policymakers who share a common commitment to advancing democracy, human rights, liberal values, and good governance in the region.

CSO Academy: CSO Academy strengthens the resilience and adaptive capacity of civil society to enable civic innovation,  sustain social movements and create lasting impact. CSO Academy aims to build the digital and organizational capacity of CSOs and Change Agents across Southeast Asia, especially during these challenging times when the efficiency and efficacy of the service delivery and community development is increasingly under strain.