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UNESCO together with the Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) launch a communication campaign to promote peaceful 2022 elections in Kenya.

The 2022 Kenya General Elections set the country for a unique election period. For the first time, more female candidates are at the forefront vying for various top seats in the elections. The country has also seen many youthful candidates coming up at both national and county levels, and Kenyans have been actively engaged in the electoral process on various communication platforms especially on social media.

In the past, electoral cycles in Kenya have been marred with violence (online and offline) which make 2022 elections an opportunity to further enrich conversations with peaceful sentiments and call for verification of information to discard all dis- and misinformation that may incite violence and hate. In this context, UNESCO together with key media stakeholders came up with a communication campaign called “Guaranteeing free, plural and fair elections in times of disinformation”. The campaign will contribute to strengthening freedom of expression, access to information and electoral conflict prevention by combating dis- and misinformation, and promoting peace and democracy.

In this context a series of short animated visual and audio contents in English, Kiswahili and Sheng, a local dialect of Kiswahili mostly spoken by the Kenyan youth, were produced as follows:

• Check and Verify information

• Think Before Clicking

• Tackling Gender Stereotypes

• Promotion Against Hate speech for Peaceful Elections

• Journalists Right to Freedom of Expression

• Access Reliable Electoral Information

• Peace Promotion for the Election Day and Post Election Day

These messages seek to appeal to young people in a fun yet educative way and cover various aspects of the election cycle spanning from pre, during and post-election period. The messages will be played by both television and radio and shared through WhatsApp and other social media platforms accessible to the youth. Through partnering with the Association of Kenya Community Media Operators, UNESCO will ensure that the campaign reaches communities in 15 remote regions in Kenya. The communication campaign will run from 18 July to 31 August 2022, to ensure the key messages contribute to sustained peace, democracy and combat misinformation.

URL: https://bit.ly/3PTRccx