CAMP, European Union, UNESCO Partner In COVID-19 Fact Checking Project

By Mbonda Lizzy Noel 

The Cameroon Association of Media Professionals, CAMP, has launched a national training for Mid Career Media Professionals on Fact Checking COVID-19 related stories.

The task which is part of a series of projects under the Coronavirus Fact initiative is sponsored by The European Union through UNESCO.

The project entails 3 training workshops for 20 journalists in Buea, Bamenda and Douala.

It shall also include two physical Meetups for experience and best practice sharing and two online meetings.

The Buea workshop was officially opened by the National President of the Cameroon Association of Media Professionals, Solomon Agborem.

According to Solomon Agborem, the project aims at empowering 60 Mid-career reporters, commentators and bloggers reporting on the COVID-19 Pandemic with necessary Fact Checking skills to combat Fake News, Misinformation, Disinformation and Infodemic both online and offline.

The Southwest Regional Coordinator of the Association, Yuh Innocent, added that the project seeks to build a strong network of Fact Checkers in Crisis and COVID-19 response, share best practices and experiences in different regions on the thematic and ensure effective and positive communication as far as the COVID-19 Pandemic is concerned.

The main trainer in Buea was Maikem Emmanuella a certified Fact Checker of International Standards.

In 2020 she undertook a short course on Behavioral Communication Strategies for COVID-19 by New York University.

She has also been part of Media training sessions on Humanitarian Reporting and SDGs, organized by UN OCHA and Media Sensitization on Discriminatory Speech, Propaganda and Incitement to Hatred in Cameroon, by UN Center for Human Rights and Democracy For Central Africa.

The Executive Director of CAMP, Tarhyang Enowbikah Tabe took time to thank The European Union and UNESCO for believing in the CAMP dream.

The Project continues on the 14th of October with two training sessions simultaneously in Bamenda for Journalists in the West and Northwest and Douala for Journalists in the Littoral, Centre and Grand North.

Background

In line with its mandate to promote the rights to access to information and freedom of expression, UNESCO implements projects in Africa to tackle disinformation challenges generated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the project ‘#CoronavirusFacts, Addressing the ‘Disinfodemic’ on COVID-19 in conflict-prone environments’ funded by the European Union, UNESCO supports professional, diverse and independent media’s capacity to report on the pandemic; strengthens local fact-checking organizations to debunk misinformation; and empowers youth and other citizens to critically process what they read and hear linked to COVID-19 through training in Media and Information Literacy.

 In Africa, the project is active both at a regional level in Sub-Saharan Africa, East & Horn of Africa, and West Africa as well as at country-level in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, and Zimbabwe. 

UNESCO is also an associate partner of another EU-funded project ‘COVID-19 Response in Africa: Together for Reliable Information’. Implemented with a consortium of NGOs in 17 African countries, the project supports media stakeholders in Sub-Saharan Africa who have been faced with income limitations due to COVID-19.

This support will enable the media stakeholders to facilitate reliable and critical information to the audience during the time of crisis.