Based on the central tenet that information is the opposite of disinformation, the #CoronavirusFacts project 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 organisations 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.
Entitled “#CoronavirusFacts: Addressing the ‘Disinfodemic’ on COVID-19 in conflict-prone environments”, the project aims to strengthen citizens’ resilience to COVID-related disinformation and thus contribute to the achievement of the SDG target 16.10.
Specifically, it works towards the following outcomes:
- Media professionally and effectively share lifesaving information and debunk disinformation on COVID-19 in conflict-prone environments;
- Citizens make-evidence based decisions about their health, as well as critically engage to prevent the COVID-19 ‘disinfodemic’ and its impact on peace and stability.
About #CoronavirusFacts
When:
|
|
April 2020 |  |
- April 2021 |  |
Where:
Global project with focus on 4 regions (Latin America & the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa, East & Horn of Africa, and West Africa) and 9 target countries (Afghanistan, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Iraq, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, and Zimbabwe).
Donor:
EU Instrument contributing to Peace and Stability (IcsP)
Outcomes/Resources
Resource Center of responses to COVID-19 (in 7 languages)
Resources on actions to support Media, enhance access to information, and leverage digital technologies in the fight against the pandemic here.
Countering COVID-19 disinformation in Latin America and the Caribbean
PortalCheck.org is the first digital platform in Latin America and the Caribbean aimed at collecting resources to face the effects of disinformation linked to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. Accessible in English, Portuguese and Spanish.
A global Massive Online Course (MOOC) to reinforce capacities of journalists in covering a pandemic.
Entitled “Journalism in a pandemic: Covering COVID-19 now and in the future” the MOOC has been launched by UNESCO and WHO and organized by the Knight Centre for Journalism in the Americas and at the University of Texas, Austin. Read the article
The course can now be accessed as a Self-Directed Course in over 7 languages here.
Webinar : Covering the COVID-19 Vaccines
This multilingual webinar, "Covering the COVID-19 Vaccines: What Journalists Need to Know" offers up best practices for journalists covering the vaccines, particularly with regard to vaccine distribution and the science behind the vaccines. It was organized by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with UNESCO and the World Health Organization.
Media and Information Literacy resources
Audio resources that can be freely used by radio stations from around the world to counter COVID-19 disinformation
Visuals for social media campaign to counter disinformation on COVID-19
Paris Peace Forum
The project was one of two UNESCO projects featured at the Paris Peace Forum in November 2020. Read more here
