Lesson Learned: Enabling Local Information and Media Literacy for a Better-Informed Society in Colombia
In contexts affected by conflict and/or institutional neglect, participatory methodologies should be incorporated into the project design. Projects that rely on top-down or pre-defined agendas risk rejection or superficial engagement, whereas participatory methods strengthen both social cohesion, and democratic outcomes. The project worked in municipalities with low social cohesion and high distrust towards external actors. The implementors of this project responded by holding preliminary dialogues with local stakeholders, enabling participants to define their own reporting agendas and more.
This strategic four-year project works to increase the presence of local news in rural areas of Colombia, so as to encourage civic participation, sound governance and democratic discussion. Building on previous projects the grantee has implemented for UNDEF, journalism labs will expand from two regions to four, bringing more media and digital literacy training programmes to community leaders and groups, women and young people; support post-training local content production and communication to ensure at least one monthly product on local issues; and build an experimental media and digital literacy programme for local schools. The project is highly relevant in the Covid-19 world and its aftermath, where the fight against disinformation and for freedom of information, media literacy and online safety will be crucial; and where it will be essential to advance understanding of the specific impact of the crisis on women and young people, ensuring that responses uphold their rights and are inclusive of their needs.