Benin Citizens’ Dialogues

Promoting democracy and civic engagement

Goals

To enable the various actors of civil society (CSOs) and local authorities to take ownership of the notions of citizenship and accountability.

To encourage civil society organisations and the media to work together, and enable citizens to express their needs clearly in the public sphere and to achieve effective dialogue and communication with local authorities.

To provide lasting support for the management and control of radio stations.

640K

36months

A project

Supported by

In partnership with

Project timeline

November 2016 November 2019

100%

This project is finished

Presentation

Accountability and the citizen-led control of public initiatives today are now crucial to the development policies implemented in Africa. In Benin, civil society has shown a desire for more active involvement in public life. The 2016 presidential elections fuelled a new kind of active and organised citizenship, as exemplified by the online and mobile platform Vote 229, which was created so that people could follow the elections via a network of observers across the country.

The media have a key role to play in this dialogue between civil society and the government.
The Benin Citizens' Dialogues project aims to increase the involvement of the media, so that they play their part in promoting more active citizenship and encouraging greater civic engagement. It follows on from the initiatives already carried out by CFI in Benin, and has been devised by taking account of the results of other projects launched in Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso covering similar issues.
It is aimed primarily at eight community radio stations in the Littoral, Borgou and Alibori regions along with a private television channel, print and online media outlets, and bloggers.

"I am delighted to have participated in the Benin Citizen Dialogues project, for example I learned the snail technique to contact sources from the most distant to the closest. This allowed me to carry out more in-depth investigations".

Falilatou Titi, investigative journalist in Benin