By Fatou Sillah
Gambia Participates, in collaboration with the Fundación para la Internacionalización de las Administraciones Públicas (FIAP), has launched a three-day capacity-building workshop designed to equip journalists, fact-checkers, and civil society organizations (CSOs) with the tools to combat electoral disinformation and hate speech ahead of the 2026 elections.
The training, titled “Technical Support for CSOs and Media Organizations,” runs from May 20 to 22 at a local hotel in Kololi. The initiative aims to provide participants with practical mechanisms to detect and counter misinformation throughout the entire electoral cycle.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Marr Nyang, Executive Director of Gambia Participates, noted that the workshop is part of a broader regional initiative—the EU-supported Peace, Security, and Governance (EPSG) project. The initiative supports ECOWAS member states and is implemented by FIAP with funding from the European Union, the German Cooperation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.
“This project is an EU support program which supports ECOWAS member states in peace, security, and governance, and it’s called the EPSG project, which is implemented by FIAP and funded by the European Union, the German Cooperation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark,” he said.
Nyang highlighted that a primary focus of the training will be addressing the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI) and its role in spreading misinformation during democratic processes.
“One thing that I’m really fascinated by about this training that we will be having is that we’re going to have a component on AI. I think most of you have come across how AI-manipulated images have been used to create a narrative during the supplementary voter registration,” he stated.
He emphasized that the workshop will explore defensive strategies, adding, “How do we use AI to fact-check AI? How do we use AI to counter misinformation? I think for me that’s one of the interesting parts of this training,” he said.
Delivering virtual remarks, FIAP representative Maria Balian Alvaro Sanchez emphasized local ownership of the initiative, stressing that the project is fundamentally built to support Gambian media organizations.
“This is not a project for FIAP, not a project for Gambia Participates. It’s a project for the media organization in Gambia,” she said.
Sanchez encouraged the attendees to utilize the three-day event to build networks and foster long-term collaboration.
“What we want from this event is a starting point for you to be connected and establish dialogue, ” she said. “We want to hear from you and to learn from you,” she said.
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