Covid-19 response project highlighted at World Press Freedom Conference
On Thursday 29 April, the first day of the World Press Freedom Conference, Free Press Unlimited hosted the session ‘Emergency measures to support media hit by Covid-19’ together with consortium partners. The session showcases several examples of swift responses to Covid-19 through EU-funded projects.
In March 2020, at the peak of the first outbreak, Free Press Unlimited and several other organisations sat together with the European Commission to see how media could be supported so that reliable information on Covid-19 could be guaranteed in various parts of the world. In a very short notice several projects kicked off. One implemented by UNESCO, called #CoronavirusFacts, addressing the ’Disinfodemic’ on Covid-19. Another is ‘Covid-19 Response in Africa: Together for Reliable Information’, a project in which Free Press Unlimited is involved.
Covid-19 Response in Africa
The project supports media organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa to continue to do their work in providing reliable information to the public – in regards to the Covid-19 pandemic. There is a focus on supporting media resilience, as well as informing vulnerable groups in society, including on how to protect them against the virus, to mitigate risks and limit the number of casualties. So far more than 60 African organisations are directly involved in this project.
