Goals
A project
Supported by
In partnership with
Presentation
The Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) was set up in 2020 by ARIJ (Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism) to combat disinformation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Since then, it has become a key and influential player in ensuring transparent and impartial fact-checking, due in particular to the SA7 project, one of the major components of the Qarib programme from February 2021 to March 2024. The AFCN works to build capacity, develop methodologies, and create tools and resources in Arabic. It brings together more than 250 fact-checkers from 11 Arab countries.
To consolidate the progress made by AFCN since 2020, CFI wishes to continue its support for the SA7 project, which aims to promote collaboration between the media and fact-checkers, raise public awareness of the importance of fact-checking, establish a sustainable business model to provide work opportunities for fact-checkers and develop a course for students at media universities.
The challenge: to ensure that the efforts invested in fact-checking and combatting disinformation continue to have a lasting impact in the Arab world.
Project beneficiaries
- The Arab Fact-Checkers Network
- 10 fact-checking organisations
- 10 media universities
Actions
Promoting cross-functional collaboration for evidence-based journalistic content
- Developing and improving the AFCN fact-checking marketplace to streamline the workflow between fact-checkers and media organisations.
- Building media organisations’ fact-checking capacity and their ability to integrate fact-checking methodologies into their editorial processes.
- Enabling and assisting media organisations in implementing and managing pre-publication fact-checking practices.
- Facilitating the participation of 50 fact-checkers and media organisations in the annual ARIJ Forum and the AFCN course.
Promoting a better understanding of the importance of fact-checking and its role in fostering an informed and aware public
- Developing and improving the chatbot to optimise the fact-checking workflow.
- Expanding the chatbot's scope to a wider audience in the Arab world through targeted mobilisation efforts.
- Developing and maintaining a thriving fact-checking community in the MENA region.
Ensuring viability and establishing a sustainable business model to support the long-term operation and growth of fact-checking organisations, the marketplace and the chatbot
- Creating a business model for the marketplace and chatbot to ensure their long-term viability and sustainability beyond the project.
- Providing direct support to fact-checking organisations to ensure their sustainability and viability
Creating an Arabic-language fact-checking course for media universities in partnership with fact-checkers and lecturers
- Developing an Arabic-language fact-checking course and promoting this to lecturers and media universities.
