ARTICLE 19 Senegal and West Africa works in partnership with organisations across the region to ensure all people can freely express themselves and actively engage in public life without fear of discrimination.
We work on 5 key themes:
- promoting media independence
- increasing access to information
- protecting journalists
- expanding civic space
- placing human rights at the heart of developing digital spaces
Currently, our priority programmes are as follows:
Strengthening freedom of expression in institutional frameworks
- We work to improve legal, institutional, and political frameworks for freedom of expression and information across West Africa – including an Access to Information Act in Senegal that meets international standards.
Protecting journalists and promoting independent media
- We promote independent, diverse, and pluralistic media in West Africa.
- We advocate for the protection of journalists and human rights defenders and an end to impunity for crimes against them.
Improving transparency
- We assist governments and national, grassroots, and regional community organisations to develop and implement policies that facilitate transparency across West Africa.
Promoting public participation
- We advocate for the participation of all citizens in public decision-making at the international, national, and local levels.
- We promote access to information and political participation of women and young people in public spaces in West Africa.
- We strengthen the capacity of citizens and local civil society to participate in developing and monitoring public policy and public service delivery.