PEACE Online: Peaceful Effective Approaches for Connecting Ethiopians Online

This project aims to support a safer more cohesive and peaceful online and offline environment in Ethiopia. This project targets a cohort of stakeholders who hold influence and credibility online and offline. The stakeholder groups include online information providers individuals managing private digital groups civil society actors Ethiopian diaspora the government of Ethiopia and social media companies. The project primarily benefits Ethiopian civilians. Project activities include: (1) training and coaching for Ethiopian stakeholders to address misinformation disinformation and hate speech in online and offline spaces; (2) facilitating peer learning and networking to improve coordination among stakeholders; and (3) funding campaigns and initiatives designed by stakeholders to promote safer online and offline spaces.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) increased knowledge and skills on conflict transformation responsible journalism and digital peacebuilding among target Ethiopian stakeholders (women and men). This helped to mitigate the spread of harmful and polarising narratives (including its gendered dynamics) in online and offline spaces; (2) increased opportunities for target Ethiopian stakeholders (women and men) to collaborate in fostering healthier online ecosystems; and (3) increased the awareness of the dangers of harmful online content. This includes gendered dynamics and its role in preventing and addressing it in targeted communities.