"The 10 countries included in this paper all show specific characteristics and contexts but also show similar barriers. Identifying shared characteristics will facilitate the development of shared approaches to deal with shrinking space. Don’t work in silos!
It’s (also) about upholding the law:
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Lobbying parliament and the government to adopt pro-civic space laws can only be part of a solution. Actions to defend civic space must also target the political will and means to uphold the law.
Target state and non-state actors: Campaigns to promote and protect civic space should target both state and non-state actors.
Analyze the international level: The analysis of civic space infringements should go beyond the national level. Changes to civic space are also the result of international developments, like the war on terror following 9/11, the international war on drugs, the globalization of (the fight against) crime and money laundering, the growth of foreign direct investment (e.g. in land). That international level can be operationalized.
Use innovative strategies: Some organizations mention new, innovative ways of reconquering civic space, involving new target groups. There are inspiring examples of CSOs engaging the creative sector and the arts as a way to achieve societal change. Involve art and pop culture. Seek cross-fertilization between CSOs and (new) media.
Collect best practices: To facilitate shared learning an inventory of strategies and practical methods (best practices) used by civic actors to deal with shrinking civic space would be useful. New approaches, tips and strategies should be shared within a global network of likeminded organizations." (Conclusions and observations, page 11)
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"There is a large body of research that has examined digital inequities, inequalities, and divides—i.e., those countries, communities, and individuals digitally left behind or disadvantaged. Whereas we know quite a lot about what is lacking and for whom, there is less focus on what works to allevi
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ate these inequalities and divides in a variety of cultural contexts. This thematic issue brings together scholarship on digital inclusion initiatives and research from over 20 countries and in the context of numerous aspects, including different types of initiatives as well as different types of target audiences for these initiatives. Each article provides unique insights into what does and does not work in various communities, making recommendations on what could be done to improve the examined initiatives. We hope that the breadth and depth of articles presented here will be useful not just for academic audiences seeking to broaden their understanding of digital inclusion and ‘what can be done’ rather than focusing on ‘what is amiss,’ but also for policymakers and digital inclusion initiatives who are eager to expand and advance their digital inclusion work within their communities." (Abstract, page 132)
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"This article discusses participatory methods for data gathering in the context of a partnership between a Swiss-based media development organization, Fondation Hirondelle, and a research team at the University of Sheffield. In 2018–2019, the partnership conducted fieldwork which focused on the im
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pact of radio on women listeners in Niger. The project used participatory methods of data gathering in the form of workshops and focus group discussions (FGDs). The article examines the advantages and limitations of combining the practical experience of international development organizations and the in-depth research capabilities of academia. To triangulate this collaboration and to navigate the limitations of FGDs, the use of workshops is discussed as an important method for providing feedback among the radio practitioners and experts in Niger. The article examines the usefulness of combining these methods and reshaping their application to promote participatory research with radio audiences and practitioners." (Abstract)
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"Strengthening health systems and maintaining essential service delivery during health emergencies response is critical for early detection and diagnosis, prompt treatment, and effective control of pandemics, including the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Health information systems (HIS) d
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eveloped during recent Ebola outbreaks in West Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) provided opportunities to collect, analyze, and distribute data to inform both day-to-day and long-term policy decisions on outbreak preparedness. As COVID-19 continues to sweep across the globe, HIS and related technological advancements remain vital for effective and sustained data sharing, contact tracing, mapping and monitoring, community risk sensitization and engagement, preventive education, and timely preparedness and response activities. In reviewing literature of how HIS could have further supported mitigation of these Ebola outbreaks and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 3 key areas were identified: governance and coordination, health systems infrastructure and resources, and community engagement. In this concept study, we outline scalable HIS lessons from recent Ebola outbreaks and early COVID-19 responses along these 3 domains, synthesizing recommendations to offer clear, evidence-based approaches on how to leverage HIS to strengthen the current pandemic response and foster community health systems resilience moving forward." (Abstract)
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"This roundtable took place on 16 January 2020, at the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the war in Biafra. It brought together Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps, Lasse Heerten, Arua Oko Omaka and Kevin O’Sullivan. The roundtable was organised and chaired by Bertrand Taithe, University of
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Manchester." (Abstract)
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"Based on the author’s experience as both a journalist and an independent researcher working regularly in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), this article examines the many constraints that journalists face in areas of armed conflict. It considers two unusual aspects of journalistic practi
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ce observed in the DRC: first, the reporters’ lexical dependence – that is, how the language journalists typically use to describe war is borrowed, sometimes unconsciously, from the war-related rhetoric developed in other fields – and second, journalists’ practical dependence on humanitarian organisations and how this might influence the articles they produce." (Abstract)
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"In 1999, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) published an extensive account of genocide in Rwanda, Leave None to Tell the Story. Based on interviews and archival work conducted by a team of researchers and written primarily by Alison Des Forges, Leave N
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one to Tell was quickly recognised as the definitive account of the 1994 genocide. In the ensuing two decades, however, much additional research has added to our understanding of the 1994 violence. In this paper, I assess Leave None to Tell the Story in light of the research conducted since its publication, focusing in particular on three major challenges to the analysis. First, research into the organisation of the genocide disputes the degree to which it was planned in advance. Second, micro-level research into the motivations of those who participated disputes the influence of ideology on the genocide. Third, research has provided increasing evidence and details of violence perpetrated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). I contend that despite these correctives, much of the analysis continues to hold up, such as the role of national figures in promoting genocide at the local level, the impact of the dynamics of local power struggles on the violence, and the patterns of violence, including the effort after the initial massacres to implicate a wide portion of the population. Finally, as a member of the team that researched and helped write Leave None to Tell, I reflect on the value of this rare sort of research project that engages human rights organisations in an academic research project." (Abstract)
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"Afrobarometer findings show that radio and television are the most widely accessible platforms for students seeking to participate in MoE/GES e-learning programs, although rural and poor households are at a disadvantage when it comes to owning these devices. The data show relatively low rates of ac
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cess to the Internet via mobile phone, ownership of computers, and regular use of the Internet, particularly among respondents in rural and poor households, highlighting the difficulties that many students will face in engaging with online learning programs. While most households are connected to the electric grid, more than four in 10 rural and poor households do not have a power supply that works most or all of the time. For both government and civil society, these findings indicate potential learning gaps, as not all students will be able to access e-learning programs from all platforms. This points to the need for strategies to increase students’ participation, particularly targeting rural and poor families, by raising awareness of available televised programs and launching radio-based remote-learning programs as soon as possible. To ensure inclusion and participation in online platforms such as icampus, the government and schools should initiate longer-term plans and investments capable of spreading e-learning infrastructure, irrespective of settlement types and poverty levels, to facilitate access for all students." (Conclusion)
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"Community engagement is an approach to the humanitarian response of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It places people affected by natural disasters, violence, and armed conflict at the heart of decision-making, strategy development and orientation of activities to protect and
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assist their communities. It is also the process of using or establishing two-way communication channels to address people’s needs, concerns, feedback, and complaints, partnering with the community to ensure that it can actively participate and guide the ICRC’s humanitarian action. The use of appropriate tools for identifying the needs is necessary to better assess the proposed response and to inform those involved beforehand. Community engagement helps to improve the quality and effectiveness of programs while building community acceptance and trust in humanitarian stakeholders. The inclusion of the most vulnerable people in communities affected by a humanitarian crisis, such as women, children, people with disabilities or the elderly, in the design and development of the humanitarian response will contribute to their re-silience and improve the quality and efficiency of the projects being implemented. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has placed community engagement at the center of its 2019-2022 institutional strategy. Although this approach is common in natural disaster-related humanitarian operations, there are fewer examples in situations of armed conflict and inter-community violence. It is therefore important to document and share good practices to better protect communities and address their needs. Several programs are being conducted in this regard in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the ICRC has been operating since 1978. In this publication, you will find a few tools to present good practices in community engagement. Each story features testimonies from our colleagues who share the challenges and lessons learned in humanitarian response activities." (Introduction, page 3)
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"The study calls for the formal recognition of faith-based media in Senegal and Niger. It also suggests to the different stakeholders such as the Government, regulatory bodies and the civil society, women's rights organizations, to take a series of measures and actions to strengthen the regulation o
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f religious discourse, for more social harmony but especially for a more gendered media environment." (Publisher description)
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"En général, l’étude plaide la reconnaissance formelle des médias confessionnels au Sénégal et au Niger. Elle suggère également aux différents acteurs que sont l’Etat et les organes de régulation et à la société civile notamment aux organisations de défense des droits des femmes, l
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’adoption de certaines mesures et actions pour renforcer la régulation du discours religieux, pour plus de cohésion sociale mais surtout pour un environnement médiatique plus genré." (http://panosmedia.org)
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"The concept of development communication is a clear pointer to the interrelationship between communication and development and the fact that the process of communication can be effectively applied to achieve development purposes. In development communication, the major aim of communication is to br
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ing about the process of development. Theatre as a communicative art is a highly dynamic and powerful conscientisation medium, and as such, integral to communication, as it is to development, establishing its importance and unique role as an invaluable development communication instrument. Anchoring on the truism of the above statement, and reinforced by the participatory development communication model, the paper refocuses the Esuk Ewang and Ibaka Communities of Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria's Environmental Theatre for Development Project, to highlight the true nature of theatre in the context of development as well as the interrelationship between communication and development." (Abstract)
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"This book deals with literary representations of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Its focus is a transnational, polyphonic writing project entitled Rwanda: écrire par devoir de mémoire (Rwanda: Writing by Duty of Memory), undertaken in 1998 by a group of nine African authors. Anna-Marie
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de Beer's study emphasizes the Afropolitan cultural frame in which the texts were conceived. Instead of using Western and Eurocentric tropes, this volume looks at an African conflict situated in a collectivist society and written about by writers of African origin. This approach enables a situated study, in which it becomes possible to draw out local notions of ubuntu, oral testimonies, mourning traditions, healing and storytelling strategies, and the presence of the 'invisible'. These texts are written in French and to date not all of them have been translated into English. The book assists in connecting English-speaking readers not only to a set of texts written in French with significant literary and cultural value, but also to francophone trauma studies research." (Publisher description)
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"On December 15, Facebook announced that it had taken down three separate networks that it had discovered for “coordinated inauthentic behavior” that targeted communities across Africa. One, centered on the Central African Republic (CAR) and Mali, was linked to individuals associated with the Fr
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ench military. The other two, centered respectively on CAR and Libya, were connected to the business and influence operations of Russian oligarch Yevgeniy Prigozhin, founder of the mercenary organization Wagner Group and the Internet Research Agency “troll farm.” The French and Russian operations in the CAR tried to expose each other, and repeatedly clashed in groups, comments, and cartoon wars. We have documented the first of the Russian operations in a joint report with Stanford University entitled “Stoking Conflict by Keystroke”; this report focuses on the French and Russian operations that targeted CAR. For the sake of brevity, the operation linked to individuals with ties to the French military will be referred to as the “French operation” in this report, while the Russian operation attributed to individuals associated with past activity by the Internet Research Agency (IRA) and previous operations attributed to entities associated with Russian financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin is referred to as the “Russian operation” in this report. It is worth highlighting that Facebook did not attribute the operation directly to the French Government or the French military, and that this report similarly does not offer evidence of institutional involvement from French governmental and military entities." (Executive summary)
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"Recent studies on conflict and terrorism news coverage have documented an ingroup bias as well as an increasingly negative discourse about Muslims in the wake of Islamist terrorist attacks. Yet, as most of these studies have focused on Western media and settings, the determinants of news media’s
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religious biases and out-group categorizations remain insufficiently understood. In this article, we draw on interviews with Nigerian media practitioners and a comparison of Boko Haram news coverage in two Nigerian newspapers—one Southern-based / Christian-affiliated and one Northern-based / Muslim-affiliated—to argue that it is crucial to consider a country’s political-religious demography in order to understand the way in which religious-based violence is covered in the news. In this respect, we identify micro-, meso- and macro-level theoretical mechanisms through which a country’s demography can promote domestic news outlets—regardless of their background and readership—to cover conflict in a more balanced, nuanced, and objective way." (Abstract)
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