How Mongolia's Milee app aims to build media literacy skills
Byambajargal Ayushjav never set out to build a media and information literacy app. The founder of the Mongolian NGO Faro Foundation originally worked in language education, helping students prepare for English-language tests and study abroad opportunities.
In 2015, Ayushjav and two partners launched Hippo Card, a mobile application designed to help Mongolians learn foreign-language vocabulary. The response exceeded expectations. According to Ayushjav, Hippo Card became one of Mongolia's most downloaded apps, reaching 1.2 million downloads in a country of about 3.6 million people.
But the app's rapid growth also exposed other skills Mongolians were in need of. As users sought help with payments, accounts and online transactions, Ayushjav and her team saw firsthand how vulnerable many people were to scams, phishing attempts and the misuse of personal information. Those experiences led to the creation of the Faro Foundation in 2018, focused on digital empowerment and online safety.
"We wanted to teach English, but before teaching English, we were seeing a lot of these kinds of tech-related issues happening on the ground," Ayushjav said.
Over the following years, the foundation developed digital literacy and media literacy curricula, worked with teachers across Mongolia and delivered training programs throughout the country. Yet reaching remote communities remained difficult. Mongolia's vast geography often required trainers to travel long distances to reach learners.
That challenge helped inspire Milee. Ayushjav said the team realized that turning educational content into a mobile application could make learning accessible regardless of location, while allowing people to learn in their own time.
MIL to every corner of Mongolia
The resulting app combines media and information literacy content with other educational resources, including language-learning courses. The app can be used in Mongolian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek and English (Russian is in development) and is now available for download.
Early reactions have been encouraging.
"We just launched our product, Milee, for the general public, and we have had very positive feedback from people. So we keep adding more lessons to our application," Ayushjav said.
Ayushjav said the app was designed to overcome geographical barriers that have long complicated educational outreach in Mongolia, one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. By placing lessons on mobile phones, Faro hopes users can access media literacy training wherever they live.
As disinformation, scams and AI-generated content become increasingly common online, Ayushjav believes critical thinking skills are more important than ever.
Milee, she hopes, will help make those skills available to anyone with a smartphone, whether they live in Mongolia's capital or far beyond it.
Users embrace the platform
The platform is already being used by both individual learners and civil society organizations. E. Tugsjargal, a local NGO officer, said Milee has opened new opportunities for smaller organizations to share knowledge with wider audiences.
"Thanks to Milee, we can now create our own training content, reach a wider audience and even monetize our work to support our organization," Tugsjargal said. "It is truly a wonderful platform that empowers civil society organizations."
According to Ayushjav, supporting NGOs was part of the vision behind the platform. Milee has evolved beyond a standalone learning app into a tool that organizations can use to distribute training materials and educational content to their own audiences.
Students are also benefiting from the platform's flexible format. A. Tergel, a third-year student at the National University of Mongolia, said the app has made it easier to combine language learning and media literacy training with a busy academic schedule.
"Between my university classes, finding the time and money to improve my English was always a challenge. I am so glad I found Milee, where I can access high-quality English and media literacy courses all in one place, and completely for free," said Tergel.
A partnership built on local ideas
Around 500 people attended the public launch of the MILEE media and information literacy app in Ulaanbaatar in June. Organized by Faro Foundation Mongolia, the event introduced the app to the public ahead of the release of additional courses planned for the platform.
A long-term partnership with DW Akademie helped make the project possible. Faro Foundation and DW Akademie have worked together for years on media and information literacy activities, including curriculum development that later informed the app's content.
Ayushjav credited DW Akademie for supporting the development of the Milee app, an idea that originated locally.
"Working with Deutsche Welle essentially is very empowering," she said. "We are very happy that they are actually listening to the ideas of the local partners."
The feeling is mutual for DW Akademie project manager Thorsten Karg. For DW Akademie, Faro has long been a reliable partner in Central Asian MIL projects.
"Faro is based in Mongolia and has excellent ties to other Central Asian countries. That's why they are such a valuable partner for this regional MIL app," said Karg.
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Free MIL training on the go
In recent years, DW Akademie supported local cooperation partners in Myanmar and Cambodia in creating MIL learning apps. These were very successful, according to Karg, adding that they inspired and shaped aspects of the Milee app for Central Asia.
Both Karg and Ayushjav agreed that the one key idea was to make the app sustainable. This means that Milee shouldn't cease to exist if DW Akademie at some point must end its financial support for the project.
That's why the app has a feature offering paid courses. Through these, NGOs and educational institutions can gain revenue and a small portion of these course fees goes back to Faro, enabling the foundation to maintain and update the Milee app.
"But one thing is certain: basic MIL courses must always be free of charge on Milee," said Karg.
For Ayushjav, the ultimate measure of success is whether people access media and information literacy training wherever they are.
"Today, even a herder out in the pastures can gain vital media literacy right from their mobile phone," Ayushjav said. "That is the ultimate value of this partnership."
The Milee app is part of DW Akademie's MIL program for Asia, "Digital Resilience and Dialogue," which is financed by Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
