Digital Call - Prince Claus Fund

Echoes of Silent voices
Who: Selay Marius Kouassi
What: Bringing voices of people from zones of silence to the global world.
Where: Ivory Coast; Abidjan (South), Man, Guiglo, Duékoué (West)
When: From 1-11-2012 to 1-11-2013
Amount attributed: 12,000 Euro
“Echoes of Silent voices” is a project that aims at facilitating freedom of expression and development of
the conflict-affected rural community in the western Ivory Coast. It aims at telling, to a wider audience,
the stories of people hit by the conflict in that region of the country. Foreign journalists covered
extensively the events in Ivory Coast , however the people on the ground had limited opportunities of
telling their stories. The digital news mobile project proposes to promote forms of expression within
and outside these communities to foster understanding of the past. The first goal of the project is to
establish an interactive platform, and make it central to the access and exchange of information. The
second aim is to empower members of the former warring communities by teaching them how to share
news content within the platform. Equipped with internet connected phones these leaders will be the
main actors and editors of the news updates on the platform. The news will be also broadcasted in local
languages (Weh, Guerey, Dioula) to ensure reaching the local population.
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