"What does it mean to decolonise academia in Africa? Is this important project limited to the humanities? Is it a project for the future? Are there forerunners at African universities today? The contributors to this volume show different trajectories for anthropology as a discipline and for decoloni
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sing academia across the continent and beyond. They offer a variety of perspectives, especially regarding collaboration between African and German scholars in the areas of research, teaching and institutional development: While some are hopeful and take inspiration from earlier experiences of disciplinary and methodological developments in academic decolonisation and international collaborations, others remain critical and call for more radical attempts at decolonisation." (Publisher description)
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"All over the world, satirists courageously stand up for democratic values, often under extremely difficult conditions. Through their art, they create spaces for freedom and challenge authorities. On the other hand, extremists use humour for their political purposes too: They ridicule those who diss
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ent and make fun of democratic values. It is not helpful that political debates are increasingly taking place in digital spaces that lack transparency and fair rules." (Publisher description)
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"This book is the first of its kind within the African region to combine scholarly perspectives from the fields of Strategic Communication Management and Communication for Development and Social Change. It draws insights from scholars across the African continent by unravelling the complementary nat
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ure of scholarship between the two fields, through the lens of prevailing governance and sustainability challenges facing African countries, today. This edited volume covers issues that have adversely affected the achievement of goals related to humanitarian upliftment, development and social change for all African nations. Consequently, citizen participation, which lies at the heart of these challenges when considering the question of sustainable governance and policy development for social change in an African context is addressed. To this end, a reflection is also made on various case studies that exist where local citizens do not inform sustainable development programmes, while the promotion of bottom-up development and social change is largely replaced by top-down instrumental action approaches and hemispheric communication instead of strategic communication." (Publisher description)
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"Sections of the book engage in critical reflection on what peacebuilding effectiveness is and who gets to decide, provide practical examples and case studies of the successes and failures of assessing peacebuilding work, and support innovative strategies and tools to move the field forward. Chapter
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s reflect a variety of perspectives on peacebuilding effectiveness and methods—quantitative, qualitative, and participatory—to evaluate peacebuilding efforts, with particular attention to approaches that center those local to the peacebuilding process. Practitioners and policymakers alike will find useful arguments and approaches for evaluating peacebuilding activities and making the case for funding such efforts." (Publisher description)
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"Despite the strides made towards strengthening two-way communication and dialogue in the regional response to the Sudan crisis, there remain critical gaps inhibiting the effectiveness of collective efforts. The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) and the Regional Refugee Response Plan should allocate
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time, priority and resources to communication and engagement approaches which ensure investment in key communication, community engagement and accountability (CCEA) activities. This should include integrated CCEA activities in sectoral interventions and those led by local and diaspora humanitarian action. The information and engagement ecosystem is in constant flux in Sudan and neighbouring countries and maintaining a solid communications base requires a range of skills and analysis. As a priority for protection, forward planning must consider the skills needed." Key takeaways)
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"Seeking to expand the Western-centric scope of media literacy research, this article shines the spotlight on Sudan as a critically underexplored context. Using participatory mapping and in-depth interviews, our research foregrounds urban Sudanese youths’ everyday informational resources and pract
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ices as a necessary foundation for a culturally responsive approach to media literacy education. We find that young people’s information landscapes are heavily molded by the country’s political context: Sudan’s political instability and economic precarity increase the urgency and speed of information exchanges, while the prevalence of propaganda highlights the need for authentic, trustworthy information. This focus on usefulness and authenticity consequently shapes a preference for interpersonal communication and digital spaces as key informational channels. At the same time, our analysis reveals significant differences in young people’s information landscapes, particularly along gender lines. Based on these findings, we outline key implications for culturally responsive media literacy interventions." (Abstract)
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"Many mediators and peacebuilders are interested in using information about actors and narratives on social media to inform programming. Our starting assumption is that users of this toolkit do not have the resources to either hire a specialist social media analysis firm or to pay for commercial soc
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ial media analysis tools. Therefore, this toolkit is a practical how-to guide for mediators and peacebuilders who want to conduct their own social media analysis, offering an overview of what is possible, a practical guide to a handful of technology tools, and suggestions on analysis methods. The toolkit is also a why-to guide, offering ideas on what programming social media analysis can inform and when it is worth investing resources in this kind of analysis. The toolkit is structured in three sections:
Section 1 outlines what it is possible to do with social media data. It covers how to select the social media platforms on which to conduct analysis and explains what data it is possible to gather from each platform. It also offers three main use cases for social media analysis that can support the work of peacebuilders and mediators, explaining the kind of insights we can glean from social media data, and how they connect to relevant programming.
Section 2 outlines in detail how to work with Facebook and Twitter data. It includes how to come up with search parameters, how to decide whether to download data or view it in a search tool, how to access data from Facebook and Twitter, and how to organise data that has been collected. It also looks at analysis methods to find patterns in this data that can help peacebuilders and mediators understand what is the general narrative (netnography or narrative analysis), what people are talking about most and how (quantitative analysis), what is the tone and emotion of a narrative (sentiment analysis), and who is talking about what with whom (network analysis).
Section 3 offers case studies of social media analysis conducted to support peacebuilding or mediation programs. The case studies connect to the previous sections, illustrating how the methods and tools outlined are used in practice in our fields." (Introduction)
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"This study points to several recommendations for how international donors can improve support for media sector reform in countries at critical political junctures, and how they can build upon and strengthen approaches that have been effective in the past. Donor support is more likely to be effectiv
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e when it is driven by a deeper understanding of the political dynamics surrounding media sector reform, including the potential weaknesses in state capacity and threats to sustained political will. As such, donor agencies need to provide robust funding and technical support for rigorous media sector assessments led by local experts, targeted efforts to cement local leadership, and dedicated technical and financial support for consensus building. A common blueprint for assistance does not exist—different strategies are needed that are attuned to the strength and commitment of the state, the capacity and cohesion of civil society, and the persistence of anti-democratic forces. Intervening early in a transition, when priorities are established and plans are drawn up, pays better dividends, and long-term assistance is critical to ensuring the sector is not co-opted by political and societal rivalries." (Conclusion, page 31-32)
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"The humanitarian Communication, Community Engagement and Accountability (CCEA) coordination structures in Sudan are primarily led by UN agencies with governmental counterparts at the sector level in Khartoum and field sites. These coordination structures have a relatively low level of representatio
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n of local NGOs, community based organisations (CBOs) and other community and local organisations considering the large number of local entities working at field level. Local organisations are involved in the Sudan Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) Network, led by with World Food Programme (WFP) as the Secretariat with support from the PSEA focal point and the Humanitarian Country Team, the Network itself lacks strong linkages with the wider humanitarian coordination and protection forums. The pre-conditions and interests of donors have restricted the capacity of local actors to facilitate and coordinate meaningful CCEA, such as not allocating specific funding for CCEA related activities, and the resulting lack of coordination and availability of information has restricted national NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs) from accessing the humanitarian Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) system. During the review period up to July 2021 it was found that there could also be an improvement in increasing the level of engagement of media and the private sector for CCEA to share skills and deepen engagement. These media agencies, private sector communication and media companies and organisations outside of the traditional humanitarian space have a great deal of CCEA expertise and despite this, there remains a minimal level of collaboration and linkages between them and the humanitarian system." (Summary, page 6)
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"This briefing document provides an overview of key developments in digital authoritarianism in 11 countries and explains the theoretical framework and methodology behind The Unfreedom Monitor project. The document also provides a basis for expanding this research to other countries to deepen our un
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derstanding of digital authoritarianism globally, as well as its crucial implications for the future. The preliminary sample of 11 countries was chosen to reflect a range of factors: system of government, approach to human rights (including rankings in indexes), and corporate relations. The countries are: Brazil, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Morocco, Myanmar, Russia, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey, and Zimbabwe." (Publisher description)
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"This report shares findings on the access and use of mobile technology among South Sudanese refugees and the communities that host them in three areas of White Nile, Sudan. White Nile is a state in southern Sudan sharing a border and refugee crossing points with South Sudan. It is home to nearly 70
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0,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 280,000 refugees from South Sudan are currently hosted in White Nile and represent more than a third of all refugees living in Sudan, as well as roughly 100,000 returnees who arrived from South Sudan when it seceded in 2011. Most refugees live in one of nine official refugee camps. Additionally, there are nearly 400,000 people experiencing acute food insecurity [...] Our research indicates that access to mobile phones is high in both communities, with 91 per cent of respondents reporting that their household owns at least one handset. Personal ownership is also high, with 81 per cent of refugees and 62 per cent of host community members reporting that they own their own mobile phone. This figure obscures some important discrepancies, however. For example, refugees are more likely to own an internet-enabled handset than host community members, and women, persons with disabilities and older people are less likely to have access to mobile phones." (Executive summary, page 2)
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"There is a clear digital divide in Sudan as the number of internet users is a very low part of the population. Despite the high contribution of the telecommunication field to the GDP, the Sudanese authorities are not using this contribution to enhance and develop the ICT field to fill the gap of di
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gital illiteracy. Instead, they use taxpayer money to buy expensive equipment for censorship, without publishing these deals. Restricting the freedom of expression and using the state’s violence to repress fundamental rights and civil liberties are rooting the image of the authoritarian state in the minds of the citizens which may lead to a state of lack of rights awareness. Using and amending laws to protect the government interests indicates that the government will enact other laws to restrict the digital space in order to make access to information increasingly difficult. Government access to ICT infrastructure in Sudan will suppress net neutrality during political crises, affecting people economically and socially, specifically in relation to education and small businesses. Sudan has low transparency, frequently violates physical privacy, uses unlawful communication shutdowns, an idle access to information act, no freedom of expression, vague laws, and online surveillance, making it easy to say that digital authoritarianism is rooted in Sudan. Digital authoritarianism affects opportunities for foreign investment, stability of life, and social security." (Analysis and conclusion, page 21)
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"Sudan’s transitional authorities expressed a strong political commitment to reform laws and policies relative to freedom of expression, media freedom and access to information. This was notably demonstrated by the suspension of old laws limiting freedom of expression, as well as by the signing of
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the Media Freedom Coalition’s Global Pledge to Defend Media Freedom by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in September 2019 within the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. He declared on this occasion that “never again in the new Sudan will a journalist be repressed or jailed”. Sudan also signed the Hague Commitment to Increase the Safety of Journalists in 2020. Sudan’s transitional authorities requested UNESCO’s support in this reform endeavour, an opportunity that the Organization seized through its Khartoum Office with funding from the MDP. An agreement was subsequently signed with Sudan’s Ministry of Culture and Information to launch a project with two components. The first component was to conduct an analysis of existing media laws and to develop a roadmap to address legislative reform, institution building, investment in technical infrastructure along with training and employment of media professionals. The second was to strengthen the capacities of Sudanese journalists in countering disinformation and preventing violent extremism and hate speech. The British Embassy in Khartoum then joined the project, and a joint committee representing all three parties war formed. UNESCO thus set in motion in late 2019 a series of high-level meetings with the aim of building coalitions to support future reforms and of advising Sudanese authorities on this process." (Pages 1-2)
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"The pandemic made inequality, discrimination, exclusion and structural inequity more palpable, and rather than stagnating in indignation, it reactivated a sense of rebellion and contestation. The strength and sharpness with which we connect social justice, gender justice, environmental justice, eco
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nomic justice and racial justice with the potentials and limitations of digital technologies is undeniable. Using this intersectional lens, we need to document and build our own narratives about the challenges that we face related to the impacts of the pandemic and reflect on how our advocacy priorities as well as the ways we do advocacy are changing and keep being modified and adjusted. At APC we have strengthened capacity to design and implement collective and contextual community responses to the multiple challenges and crises that we face, while having a greater awareness of the kind of global responses that should be prioritised, based on shared but differentiated responsibilities [...] GISWatch 2021-2022 focuses on responses to some of the fundamental questions brought by the pandemic to inform civil society’s advocacy around digital technology issues and their potential to shape future horizons. As illustrated on our cover, a sustained struggle will be necessary in the years ahead, but not only in the public spaces. A nuanced approach to advocacy will be essential to open multiple ways to bring about positive change." (Preface, page 6)
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"The stories presented here are some examples of how the Multi-Donor Programme for Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists (MDP) works to provide countries and their populations with the necessary tools to nurture a free and independent media. This includes promoting the adoption of policies
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and standards on freedom of expression and safety of journalists, and fostering diversity, gender equality and media and information literacy through and with the media." (https://en.unesco.org/themes/fostering-freedom-expression/mdp/stories)
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"The research data reveal that Sudan at the time had at least 10 media-related laws in place that do not meet international standards. At the same time, the country had the benefit of an infrastructure of 30 institutions offering media education and training. Sudan has an opportunity to restructure
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its media system to align with international standards on freedom of expression and the press, the safety of journalists, as well as pluralism. To support this, the current report has formulated recommendations for stakeholders’ consideration. These possibilities for reform cover independent media regulation, the promotion of media pluralism and the improvement of the economic playing field." (Short summary)
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