Alliance collaborates to highlight data access

With support of UNESCO, the Alliance was prominent in commemorating the International Day for Universal Access to Information this year, in the context of a panel at the Africa Facts Summit (1^st and 2^nd October) in Dakar, Senegal.

The event brought together 200 fact-checkers, media rights advocates, researchers, and civil society actors to discuss how Africa can shape regional guidelines on information integrity, public service content, and access to data.

It included a partnership panel encompassing ACHPR Resolutions 620, where the Alliance is leading consultations around Africa, as well as “sister” Resolutions 630 and 631 that are being championed respectively by Media Monitoring Africa (now called Moxii) and Support Public Broadcasting.

Moderated by UNESCO’s Misako Ito (pictured centre), the session explored how the three Resolutions can strengthen platform accountability, promote rights-based digital governance, and ensure that public interest information remains accessible and inclusive.

The speakers included the Alliance’s Edetaen Ojo (Media Rights Agenda), who joined Lister Namumba (Media Monitoring Africa) (pictured right), Rachel Olpengs (Acepis) (2nd from right), and Mirriam Beatrice Wanjiru (Paradigm Initiative) (Pictured left).

Key reflections and takeaways

1. Urgency of African-led solutions – Participants agreed that Africa must define its own frameworks for platform accountability and information integrity rather than relying on imported global models.
2. Platform accountability gaps – Tech companies continue to withdraw from moderation and fact-checking in Africa, creating urgent needs for timely data access, sustainable funding, and multilingual human moderation.
3. Data as a human right – Resolution 620 reframes access to data as an extension of the right to information, highlighting the importance of data literacy, equitable access, and transparency from both governments and private actors.
4. Access and inclusion – The shift from traditional media to digital spaces calls for new incentives and policies that support public interest content creation, especially in African languages.
5. Collaboration and localisation: Multi-stakeholder coalitions and community-level engagement are essential to domesticate the resolutions and ensure real-world impact.

The discussion generated actionable ideas—such as localising the forthcoming guidelines for each ACHPR resolution, establishing national observatories to monitor implementation, promoting data literacy, and using strategic litigation and advocacy to anchor the Resolutions in domestic policy.

Feedback and insights from the session are informing  the ongoing drafting of the guidelines for Resolutions 620, 630, and 631, ensuring that they reflect on-the-ground realities across the continent.