26/11/2025
The workshop made it possible to identify the needs of various organizations from Nigeria, Benin and Gambia in order to achieve safe and peaceful electoral processes.
Countering misinformation, preventing electoral violence and promoting peaceful and democratic elections are challenges that remain highly relevant and important throughout West Africa. Civil society organizations (CSOs) and local media outlets understand the importance of consolidating these efforts, and for that purpose a series of specific consultations have been held with organizations from Nigeria, Benin and Gambia.
The aim of these consultations is to understand the landscape and current situation of organizations and media outlets. To compile their results, a workshop was organized, which made it possible to capture all the contributions received in two working documents: a mapping report and a needs assessment report.
The workshop was organized by FIAP within the framework of the European project on peace, security and governance issues (EPSG), and, thanks to the results obtained from the consultations, has made it possible to analyse efforts to combat disinformation and promote peaceful and democratic elections in West Africa.
In total, 199 organisations responded to the mapping questionnaire and 108 participated in the needs assessment report. In addition, work is underway to create a collaborative digital platform for networking, learning, knowledge sharing and coordination. The platform also promotes national and regional collaboration between organisations working to combat disinformation.
The key objectives of this exercise include creating a database of civil society organisations and media actors working in electoral processes; fostering collaboration, coordination and knowledge sharing; and generating information to guide specific interventions, technical support and partnership development within the EPSG, with the aim of maintaining these partnerships in the region once the project is completed.
The validation workshop brought together more than 70 representatives, both in person and online, from civil society organizations and media outlets in Nigeria, Gambia and Benin to review and validate both the mapping and needs assessment reports, as well as to give the first presentation of the platform. During the technical sessions, the documents and the platform were critically reviewed. The recommendations collected will make it possible to prepare revised versions and move forward in consolidating the collaborative digital platform.
The workshop has been a significant step in defining actions within the EPSG and moving towards more peaceful and democratic electoral processes in West Africa.
The EPSG, co-funded by the European Union (EU) and GIZ (Germany), is implemented under the Team Europe approach by GIZ, in cooperation with Expertise France (EF) and FIAP, in partnership with ECOWAS. The project addresses security and governance challenges by strengthening early conflict detection, security sector reform, electoral assistance and inclusive peace processes in West Africa.
Within the project, FIAP focuses on strengthening institutions, processes and electoral dialogue at the regional and national levels. It supports electoral processes and dialogue by implementing, together with civil society organizations (CSOs) and media outlets, an extensive action plan aimed at preventing electoral violence and combating disinformation, misinformation and hate speech, with particular attention to social media.
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