Democracy Funding

After several years of military rule in Mali and the systematic and automatic installation of certain anti-democratic habits/practices, including the restriction of individual and press freedoms, the manipulation of information and disinformation, abusive arrests and other harassment of political opponents, it's crucial to provide people with accurate, true and constructive information so they can wisely decide, chose what is good for them.

The main objective of this project is to identify and select 50 active young women and men from our volunteers throughout the country based on their engagement, leadership actions for the benefit of their communities. This selection will have a very special focus and include gender sensitivity, ethnicity, disability, geographical and age in order to have a very inclusive and efficient group of changer makers to be involved in this project.

After this first leg of the project completed, we then organize two (2) training sessions in Bamako, the capital city of Mali and in Ségou region, the centre of Mali very affected by the conflict. The two (2) groups of 25 people will have session on leadership, peace building and strengthening their ability to research and analyze online information and carry out investigations in various fields such as human rights violations, developing the information integrity of digital civic spaces, combating disinformation and online hate speech targeting vulnerable populations and minorities.

As part of our national Network including the 50 of our participants, each of them will return back into her/his community and establish a WhatsApp Radio ( WhatsApp group with only audio message) and add multiple people from this community including community leaders, Imams, administrative officials, traditional elders, women and youth leaders etc. As the main "Admin" of the group, our fellow will moderate conversations and be sure important messages are translated to local language speaking in the community and in the audio format so everyone has access to it and answer questions. With all these WhatsApp radios with at least five 5 most speaking local langages in the country, we are sure to engage with thousand of people around the country with important and constructive information, Initiatives and opportunities.

After our participants returned back in their communities and established the WhatsApp Radios, the National Network they are all in will continuously provide checked and verified information to be translated in the local langage spoken in their community for their use.They can ask questions, global concerns and share local positive news. The National Network will coordinate and build partnerships with certain communities radios and also public meetings to take this initiative from virtual to in person interaction.

We will ensure continuous documentation in the field. This involves documenting learning and adaptations in a way that is integrated with the implementation of activities through observation, note-taking, individual interviews, regular debriefings or focus groups organized in the field by the project team. In addition, field missions will be carried out to ensure the effective implementation of activities and to evaluate. Monitoring and evaluation reports will be produced, and feedback sessions will be organized following these monitoring and evaluation missions, in order to make any necessary adjustments to the proper implementation of the project.

The project will continue to support Malian democracy by providing accurate, verified, constructive information to population so they can wisely make choices and fight for their rights and a better life wherever they live no matter they know how to write or read.

Implementation period- 2 months including final report submission.

Total Project Budget: USD$3,333

Budget Allocation:

1 Day Training session 2x (Bamako and Ségou)- $2,033

(Including coffee break; Lunch-50 persons on both sites-; media coverage and press book; snacks for afternoon for the participants)

Translation services for 4 local langages (Fulani, Dogon, Bambara and Songhai) in audio messages to be used in our WhatsApp Radios- $1,000

Studio fees for audio messages production and Technical Support - $300