Project profile — Mobilizing the Media to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19)

• Yemen (8.30%)
• Gambia (8.30%)
• Ghana (8.40%)
• Tunisia (8.30%)
• South Africa (8.40%)
• Liberia (8.30%)
• Sierra Leone (8.30%)
• Uganda (8.40%)
• Tanzania (8.40%)
• Mali (8.30%)
• Mauritania (8.30%)
• Iraq (8.30%)

• Basic Health: Health education (12261) (30.00%)
• Media and free flow of information:
Media and free flow of information (15153) (40.00%)
Human rights (15160) (20.00%)
Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions (15170) (10.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (principal objective)

This project aims to combat the impact of COVID-19 on human rights, particularly those of women and girls. Project activities include: (1) providing training to journalists to report on the status of human rights and women’s rights as affected by COVID -19. This includes access to health-care and social services; (2) providing training to journalists to identify misinformation and disinformation on COVID-19 to debunk dangerous myths in social media; (3) providing training to journalists to only report scientifically valid information to the public; (4) educating targeted communities on how to detect misinformation and disinformation in the media and to find credible sources of information about COVID-19; and (5) providing training to communities to recognize when their human rights are not being observed due to COVID-19. This project is being implemented in Gambia, Ghana, Iraq, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, and Yemen.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved media coverage of COVID-19 and its gender impacts in targeted countries; and (2) improved public understanding on the impact of COVID-19 on human rights, in particular the rights of women and girls in targeted countries.

Results achieved as of February 2023 include: (1) improved by 290% media coverage of COVID-19 and its gender impacts in targeted countries; (2) trained 730 journalists (411 women and 319 men) and demonstrated improved knowledge and analytical techniques in their stories on COVID-19 impact and vaccine programs; and (3) improved by 75% public understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on human rights, particularly the rights of women and girls in targeted countries. Also reached 143 042 590 audience through story production, online forums and webinars on debunking misinformation and disinformation and the impact of COVID-19, and access to vaccines on human rights and gender equality. The project produced 1 803 health-related human rights media stories with a focus on the gendered impact of the pandemic and 1 052 stories on COVID-19 vaccinations with a focus on the gendered dimension of access to the vaccine. Also, 53 civil society organizations collaborated in roundtables, webinars and online forums with journalists and experts on women’s rights, gender-based violence and health literacy.

• Proactive disclosure
• Related activities:
• Mobilizing the Media to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Mobilizing the Media to fight the Coronavirus (COVID-19)