{"id":18741,"date":"2025-05-07T09:29:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T07:29:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/?page_id=18741"},"modified":"2026-05-27T16:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T14:29:07","slug":"media-for-stronger-civil-society-benin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/our-work\/projects\/topical\/governance\/media-for-stronger-civil-society-benin","title":{"rendered":"Media for a stronger civil society – Benin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\u00a9Yanick
\u00a9Yanick Folly – A voter is assisted by election officials at a polling station in the Agla Est public primary school in Cotonou during the legislative elections in Benin on 8 January 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


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Although Benin\u2019s thriving media landscape is made up of several media outlets, the civic space is shrinking under the pressures of restrictive legislation and political interference. Self-regulation is complicated, and journalists are facing the risk of self-censorship and poor working conditions that threaten the independence of the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2024, Fondation Hirondelle launched a new project aimed at supporting the advocacy capabilities of Beninese civil society. This EU-funded project focuses on the broadcast of independent, responsible and inclusive news by placing Beninese citizens at the heart of public discourse.  To achieve this goal, Fondation Hirondelle has developed key partnerships with FeRCAB (F\u00e9d\u00e9ration des Radios Communautaires et Assimil\u00e9es du B\u00e9nin), already a partner in a 2020\u20132021 multi-country Covid-19 anti-disinformation project; and Ek\u00f4lab, a laboratory for quality journalism in West Africa that promotes rigorous and informative journalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working closely with FeRCAB and Ek\u00f4lab, Fondation Hirondelle has set itself a twofold objective: firstly, to help local media work effectively with civil society organisations (CSOs) and report on the concerns of citizens; and secondly, to improve people\u2019s access to and participation in local media content focused on local development issues.  This content includes programmes on promoting a culture of gender equality; governance; the effects of climate change; and the environment. To find out more about our inclusion and participation programmes, visit our dedicated page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Local media selected over the course of the project are provided with support to produce on- and offline media content in Benin\u2019s national languages and in French. Round tables, current affairs shows and public programmes are produced, bringing together diverse public discourse stakeholders including CSOs, experts and officials. These media outlets broadcast this content on the airwaves and on digital platforms (Facebook, WhatsApp, websites, etc.). Once a year, the radio stations vote for the year\u2019s best content, which is then broadcast by all FeRCAB stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

FeRCAB station employees receive training and coaching sessions on journalism techniques. More specific needs-based training is also offered to CSOs and women in the FeRCAB women\u2019s network on subjects such as using digital technology; advocacy; communication techniques; local development; and gender issues. To find out more about our operations in Benin, visit our dedicated page.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sawara project<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The SaWaRa project is being implemented in Benin by a consortium of five organisations <\/strong>\u2013 CFI (lead partner), the Hirondelle Foundation, the Institute for Democratic Governance (IGD), Filles en Action and BRUT- with financial support from the European Union. It aims to contribute to strengthening social cohesion in Benin in the run-up to and following the 2026 general elections<\/strong>, by making the media, political actors and civil society \u2013 particularly young people and women \u2013 vectors of information and awareness-raising in the service of peaceful and inclusive elections and a violence-free post-election period, covering in particular the implementation of campaign programmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the consortium, the Hirondelle Foundation leads the component dedicated to media capacity building and the production and dissemination of quality content, drawing on its experience in Benin since 2024 and on partnerships established with key players in the local media ecosystem, such as FeRCAB, the Federation of Community and Similar Radio Stations of Benin. It thus supports offline media, particularly local radio stations, by providing them with practical tools tailored to journalism during pre- and post-election periods<\/strong>: the Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics in the Media (CDEM), a guide to election coverage and election monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical training courses are also offered to strengthen editorial teams\u2019 skills in fact-checking and preventing hate speech<\/strong>. Finally, the Hirondelle Foundation supports local radio stations in producing various radio formats, which are broadcast across the network to reach a wide audience in the targeted communities, including the most isolated ones.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although Benin\u2019s thriving media landscape is made up of several media outlets, the civic space is shrinking under the pressures of restrictive legislation and political interference. Self-regulation is complicated, and journalists are facing the risk of self-censorship and poor working conditions that threaten the independence of the media. In September 2024, Fondation Hirondelle launched a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"parent":14231,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18741","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-20 05:03:15","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"translation_priority","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18741"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18741\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26615,"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18741\/revisions\/26615"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hirondelle.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}