News

Kenyan Youth leaders Trained to counter COVID-19 Disinformation

27 October 2020

Last update:20 April 2023

As cases of COVID-19 infections rise across the world, so does false information related to the disease, particularly through traditional and digital media channels. This has particularly left young people vulnerable to being misled about the novel disease, threatening to derail government efforts to fight the pandemic.

Concerned by this emerging phenomenon and as a response, UNESCO kicked off on 14 October 2020 a series of virtual workshops for youth leaders in Kenya to equip them with skills and competencies to tackle disinformation and misinformation about COVID-19.

Sixty Eight (68) youth leaders comprising of 31 men and 37 women aged between 18 and 30 years, and drawn from 50 youth led community centres, youth organizations, community-based organizations, and community learning places across 47 counties in Kenya, took part in the first series of UNESCO virtual training workshops from 14 to 13 October 2020, facilitated by the , and funded by the European Union, as part of the .

The 68 youth leaders were taken through theoretical and practical exercises on forms of information disorder, alternative media and the spread of disinformation, fact-checking, social media verification and combating online abuse, among others. This training was designed with materials from UNESCO publications such as and

This training will help imparting young people with critical knowledge and skills on media and information literacy that will enable them to safely navigate digital platforms and tackle COVID-19 Disinformation. It will enable them to effectively engage to fight false information; besides avoiding cyber-bullying and identity theft, among other vices

Mr. Kenneth Okwaroh, Executive Director of Africa Center for People, Institutions and Society,

The sessions in this training were very informative and practical. We shall make sure we fact check all the information we come across so that we share verified and credible information to our audience

Mr. Steve Juma, a participant at the training from County and Youth Adolescent Network in Kisumu

It has been such an awesome and resourceful training. With understanding of all these aspects of disinformation, it is easier to determine what to grab from the media by verifying news before letting it to people and also it will help me educate members of my organisation on how to deal with cyber bullying cases when they arise

Ms. Rebecca Sifuna from Rural to Global Org in Kakamega County

Mr. John Okande, the National Programme Officer for Communication and Information Sector at UNESCO, presented the intervention as part of to promote access to reliable, fact-based information and countering disinformation during the COVID-19.

Enhancing competencies among youth organizations, and other stakeholders is a key action of UNESCO’s strategy to promote knowledge societies and foster the development of free, independent and pluralistic media and universal access to information and knowledge for good governance.

The second and third series of virtual training for young people on tackling disinformation in Kenya will be held on 21 to 22 and 28 to 29 October 2020 respectively.

***

About the #CoronavirusFacts project:

Based on the central tenet that information is the opposite of disinformation, the UNESCO project #CoronavirusFacts leverages the pivotal role of freedom of expression and access to information to address information needs in times of COVID-19 and to tackle the massive wave of disinformation which threatens to impact democracy, sustainable development and stability around the world. Funded by the European Union, the project 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.