The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has successfully concluded the Southern and Eastern regional engagements of its ongoing nationwide media literacy campaign on the iVerify platform.
The campaign is being implemented in collaboration with the Independent Radio Network (IRN).
The latest sessions, held in Bo and Kenema Districts, brought together a vibrant mix of community stakeholders, including commercial bike, market women, students, teachers, youth, women’s groups, and civil society actors. As with earlier engagements in Port Loko and Bombali, the conversations were engaging, enlightening, and highly interactive.
Participants commended the initiative and expressed strong support for iVerify’s mission to help citizens detect and prevent the spread of disinformation, misinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories, political propaganda, and damaging rumours, especially as Sierra Leone heads towards the 2028 elections.
In both districts, participants proposed innovative and community-focused strategies to deepen public awareness and use of iVerify. These included the use of Public Address (PA) systems in markets, ataya bases, bike riders’ and motor drivers’ union offices, football matches, and other social gatherings. They also appealed for periodic community engagements to sustain momentum and pledged to become information champions in their respective communities.
Speaking during the sessions, outgoing SLAJ President, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, highlighted the urgent need for citizen vigilance in an age of artificial intelligence (AI), where manipulated content can be easily passed off as real. He referenced the increasing influence of AI-generated misinformation and recalled how misleading content has, in the past, triggered unrest, particularly since 2018.
“The iVerify campaign is timely and essential as we prepare for another crucial election in 2028,” Nasralla said. “We must begin now to build a culture of verification, critical thinking, and collective responsibility for truth, especially in an age where technology can so easily distort reality.”
The iVerify platform, launched in April 2023 with support from the UNDP Elections Project, is designed to combat the spread of false information and promote peaceful and credible democratic processes. It provides an independent and trusted space for fact-checking and verifying claims circulating in the media and online.
Information, education and communication stickers on iVerify were distributed to the participants.
The final regional engagement under this phase of the project is scheduled for July 14, 2025, covering Western Urban and Rural. SLAJ calls on all citizens to participate and be part of the movement for media literacy and truth.
Together, we can limit the spread of falsehood and uphold national peace and cohesion.
–Sourced: SLAJ Secretariat
