Empowering Civil Society Advocates (ESCA)

Project period:

15.03.2020 - 31.03.2021

Granted amount:

499,490,- DKK

Organization:

Games (Gambia Media Support)

Partners:

Gambia Press Union Media Academy for Journalism and Communication (MAJaC)

Pool:

Civilsamfundspuljen

Grant type:

Medborgerindsats

World goals:

Goal 4: Quality Education

Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

Efforts take place in:

Gambia, the

Overall targets

To consolidate The Gambia’s still fragile new democracy by promoting citizen participation.

Immediate targets

Selected CSO-representatives influence, test and endorse an education on diploma level in “Communication for the civil society”, that equip other CSO representatives with new communications skills and means to influence legislators and media coverage and to train a pool of citizen reporters and CSO bloggers to engage in the political process through social media platforms such as WhatsApp.

Target groups

Primary: 16 CSO directors, 16 CSO participants, staff of MAJaC Secondary: Employees, activists, bloggers at the 16 CSOs, 11 community radios, 32 mainstream media, 32 opinionmakers, MAJaCs other diploma students. Ultimate: The target groups of the 16 CSO, the users of WhatsApp, The radio listeners and other media audiences, the people, MAJaJ’s graduates

Resume

The project capacity builds 16 CSOs’ communication and advocacy abilities to involve themselves and citizens in the new democracy and the preparation for the 2021 elections, giving voice to their well-defined target groups, including the poor, the children and the women, and thus addressing social, economic, political, environmental or other challenges. The immediate objectives are that: - Selected CSO-representatives influence, test and endorse an education on diploma level in “Communication for the civil society”. - Communication officers from 16 national CSOs are equipped with new communications skills and means to influence legislators and media coverage in the Gambia, thereby enhancing public engagement and participation in the governance process. - 16 CSOs have trained a pool of citizen reporters and CSO bloggers to engage in the political process through social media platforms such as WhatsApp. The project thus introduces MAJaC as a support center for the CSOs’ further empowerment.