Call for applications: Africa Media Cybersecurity (Burkina Faso session)

Afrique Média CyberSécurité is a theoretical and practical internet security training programme dedicated to our late colleague Anna Gueye. It is intended for professional journalists and civil society media actors — bloggers, citizen journalists, cyber-activists and others — from ten countries in West Africa.

The project aims to introduce media actors to digital security and protection practices and equip them with the necessary skills. Its main objective is to enable West African media professionals to access the internet without restrictions.

The digital revolution has transformed the way media professionals work. Dictaphones and other audio recorders are almost a thing of the past. Today’s journalists increasingly use smartphones and laptops. Digital data is processed, stored and shared every day. Without a security policy and an understanding of basic protection measures, all this work is exposed to theft or simply to destruction.

In some African countries, working in the media — professionally or otherwise — often involves risks, even in countries considered democratic. Journalists’ duty to inform and the public’s right to access information are frequently violated. With digitalisation, some governments have not hesitated to use fascist methods to impose an internet “blackout” across an entire country.

Civil society actors who are whistle-blowers, citizen journalists or simply web activists are threatened, persecuted, monitored and arrested in some countries, even though they are just doing their jobs or publishing and sharing information.

By the end of the project, 500 journalists and web activists whose professional conduct is beyond reproach will have the tools and knowledge they need to work safely, communicate securely, reduce the risks of infiltration and hacking, bypass internet censorship and counter surveillance technologies.

AFRICTIVISTES will identify and support media actors in nine French-speaking West African countries and The Gambia. Participants will receive free cyber security training, along with a toolbox of applications and software to put what they learn into practice.

The programme offers training, technical support and networking opportunities.

Applicants must know how to use the internet, have an email address, be registered on a social media platform, and know how to use a computer and a smartphone (Android or iOS).

The Afrique Média CyberSécurité programme consists of ten main sessions, to be held successively in the following countries:

Benin
Togo
Côte d’Ivoire
Guinea
Burkina Faso
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Senegal
The Gambia

Each session will have three phases:

Identifying threats;
Proposing methods; and
Providing tools.

Each session will have 50 participants:

25 professional journalists (web journalists, investigative journalists, radio journalists, television journalists and print journalists);
25 civil society media actors (bloggers, web activists, citizen journalists, data journalists and Journalism 2.0 practitioners).

The Burkina Faso session will take place in Ouagadougou from 22 to 26 January 2018. The deadline for applications is 17 January 2018 at 23:59 GMT.

To apply for the Ouagadougou session, click on the link, complete the online application form and provide the requested information. There are no application or participation fees. The programme is entirely free.

All applications will go through a selection process. Applicants’ profiles and online activities will be assessed.

Participants must:

Be a media professional or actor;
Have internet access;
Live in the country hosting the session;
Understand the risks and issues involved in cyber security; and
Demonstrate motivation and an appreciation of the value of working as part of a network.

Successful applicants will be notified by email. They must confirm their participation to receive the agenda and further information about the programme.

For further information, email cheikh.fall@africtivistes.org.