"Since the early 2010s, humanitarian donors have increasingly contracted private firms to monitor and evaluate humanitarian activities, accompanied by a promise of improving accountability through their data and data analytics. This article contributes to scholarship on data practices in the humanit
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arian sector by interrogating the implications of this new set of actors on humanitarian accountability relations. Drawing on insights from 60 interviews with humanitarian donors, implementing agencies, third-party monitors and data enumerators in Somalia, this article interrogates data narratives and data practices around thirdparty monitoring. We find that, while humanitarian donors are highly aware of challenges to accountability within the sector, there is a less critical view of data challenges and limitations by these external firms. This fuels donor optimism about third-party monitoring data, while obscuring the ways that third-partymonitoring data practices are complicating accountability relations in practice. Resultant data practices, which are aimed at separating data from the people involved, reproduce power asymmetries around the well-being and expertise of the Global North versus Global South. This challenges accountability to donors and to crisis-affected communities, by providing a partial view of reality that is, at the same time, assumed to be reflective of crisis- affected communities’ experiences. This article contributes to critical data studies by showing howmonitoring data practices intended to improve accountability relations are imbued with, and reproduce, power asymmetries that silence local actors." (Abstract)
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"The study was sparked by the absence of literature on transnational masspersonal communication (tmc) of 'Eritrean', 'Ethiopian', Oromo, and Somali diaspora communities. To bridge this theoretical gap, an empirical study was conducted at meso-level based on three questions: (a) what topics do people
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in the diaspora communities discuss in relation to their homelands via social media - an alternative for tmc; (b) how do they communicate about their homelands' issues in relation to their collective identities; and (c) how does this communication enable the construction of their own identity as well as the deconstruction of competing identities. The theoretical analysis from the perspective of these questions led to developing own model, i.e., the Diasporic Identity Construction in Transnational Masspersonal Communication Model (DICTMCM). This model, which connects the theoretical analysis to the empirical study, argues that their communication in relation to their homelands, particularly about their collective identities, consists not only of what they talk but also of how they converse. As a result, the empirical results delivered a comparative analysis of the tmc of these four diaspora communities and how they construct their collective identities via this tmc, which bridged the above stated gap." (Publisher description)
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"This study was conducted to assess the risks journalists face while reporting in Somalia. It was guided by three specific objectives that included: evaluating the cases of physical attacks on journalists reporting in Somalia, analyzing the cases of arbitrary arrests and imprisonments of journalists
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recorded in Somalia and investigating the cases of journalists being killed in Somalia in three years between 2019 and 2021. The study was qualitative and used secondary data to explore the objectives. It analyzed data from five reports which had information collected between 2019- 2021 that included: The Somali Mechanism for Safety of Journalists (SMSJ) report 2021, The UNESCO observatory report on journalists killed 2021, The National Union of Somalia Journalists (NUSOJ) report of 2021, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) report of 2020/2021, and The Amnesty International Research report of 2020. Data was classified into three thematic areas according to the study objectives. The data was then uploaded into the coding sheet and analyzed. The study found out that, Media freedoms in Somalia is being suppressed by the Federal state and non-state actors. Evidence from the reports showed that, between 2019 and 2021, eight journalists have been killed, 66 journalists have been arbitrary arrested and 81 journalists have been physically attacked and assaulted. Additionally, The Somali federal and state governments targeted and raided media outlets considered disloyal to the regime and approximately 14 media outlets were struck by government officials and armed soldiers. The study recommends that, according to UN plan of Action on the safety of Journalists and the issue of impunity (2012), the Somali government needs to demonstrate its assurance to the protection and safety of journalists and media freedom by taking significant action to tackle the extensive impunity for crimes against the media, otherwise, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights ACHPR having signed a memorandum of understanding with UNESCO to safeguard journalists should step in and manage the risks that journalists working in Somalia face daily." (Abstract)
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"Hidden information, double meanings, double-crossing, and the constant processes of encoding and decoding messages have always been important techniques in negotiating social and political power dynamics. Yet these tools, "cryptopolitics," are transformed when used within digital media. Focusing on
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African societies, Cryptopolitics brings together empirically grounded studies of digital media to consider public culture, sociality, and power in all its forms, illustrating the analytical potential of cryptopolitics to elucidate intimate relationships, political protest, and economic strategies in the digital age." (Publisher description)
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"Africa's Voices Foundation in partnership with Rift Valley institute (RVI)'s Somali Dialogue Platform implemented a 3-month project between February 8th - May 7th 2022. The project promoted public dialogue around elections so as to understand citizens' perspectives on Somalia's national elections.
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It also amplified citizen voices in political processes and promoted peaceful messaging by using media spaces to contribute to the prevention - of violence. AVF utilized its existing Common Social Accountability Platform (CSAP) to deliver the project. The project aimed to contribute to RVI's Somali Dialogue Platform program by facilitating dialogue amongst Somalis on contentious political issues. At the end of the radio programming, AVF analyzed the rich audience engagement that emerged from the six interactive radio shows to generate insight from public opinion on the election and political processes from different demographic groups. The insights were synthesized to generate actionable recommendations for our partner, RVI, based on citizens' experiences and feedback on elections." (Executive summary)
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"The following are the key insights identified across all three weeks of the radio dialogue: In week one of radio dialogue, 36.2% of the participants (n=125) and week 3 55.1% (n=266) of participants agreed that there should be unity and cooperation among all members of the community. They stated tha
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t unity is helpful in the fight against violent extremism and would strengthen the role of women in PCVE and enhance cooperation among women, the government, and civil society organisations in PCVE interventions. 25.5 % (n=88) of participants in week one also stated that peace and security should be prioritised so that women can play a role in combating violent extremism in their respective regions. This can be promoted by working on and maintaining peace in the respective communities. In week two, 32.2 % (n=118) of participants believed that women play an important role in combating PCVE because they are the foundation of the family and are important in a community." (Main findings, page V)
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"This study is unique in its attempt to map both law and policy (regulation and self-regulation) and identify measures to promote gender equality in the media and women’s freedom of expression. The study covers policy instruments adopted at international, regional, national, industry and media hou
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se levels in over 100 countries. Parallel to the global study, case studies have been developed in a sample of countries in which Fojo Media Institute is active: Armenia, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Somalia, Sweden and Zimbabwe. The analysis reveals patterns of inconsistencies between commitment to gender equality in national policies, as well as gender equality in media policies and legislation. Widespread interest in gender equality at the overall international and national level does not appear to filter into statutory media sector regulation." (Executive summary)
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"Under the MDP, UNESCO has since 2018 coordinated actions with other development partners through the Somalia Media Sector Group (SMSG) to advocate for improvements in the media legislative framework and to support the implementation of the Somalia Federal Republic Media Strategy 2016-2020 as well a
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s of the UN Plan of Action. In addition, UNESCO supported a consortium of media institutions under the Somalia Independent Media Houses Association (SIMHA) who monitored the amendment process of the Federal Media Law and advocated for the modification or deletion of clauses that could adversely impact media freedom. Through this, UNESCO provided support for the review of media laws in Somalia and Somaliland to encourage compliance with international standards." (Page 2)
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"In 2021, 105 incidents of media violations were recorded. The violations recorded by SMSJ largely targeted on-duty journalists and included: two cases of murder, 66 arrests, 14 media outlet raids, 14 physical assaults, 13 cases of harassment, and two sham trials. The figures represent an overall 62
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percent increase from 2020 (65 cases: two killed, four injured, 56 arrested, and five media shutdowns), and the highest caseload recorded in almost a decade. Two senior Somali journalists were targeted for their work and killed by Al Shabaab. Since 2017, 15 Somali journalists were killed, and according to CPJ, Somalia’s fatalities represent more than half of all journalists murdered in Africa. The scale and frequency of violations has seen a sharp dramatic rise as the government’s term expired in early 2021, and political tension caused by illegal mandate extension ensued. Street protests, violent armed clashes, and insurgency rocked the country, and the media suffered the brunt of various armed actors and political groups. Banadir region took the unenviable top spot for the third consecutive year as the most dangerous location for journalists. It accounted for nearly half of all violations, 71% of physical beatings, 37% of arrests, and 69% of threats and harassment targeted at media workers. In a bid to enforce media blackout on unfavorable political events, police and NISA officers in Banadir raided four media outlets, confiscating equipment and damaging the facilities." (Executive summary)
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"Our work in 2020 and 2021 focused on different aspects of COVID-19 to provide audiences with accurate information and appropriate strategies to deal with the pandemic. This media content contributed to increased knowledge, changed attitudes and positive behaviour change to counter the damaging effe
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cts of the pandemic. Overall, audiences and media professionals suggest that the programmes should continue to provide COVID-19 awareness and information and focus on how to live with the virus as the pandemic continues." (Learnings and recommendations, page 14)
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"Researchers at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) led a two-year investigation into the online media ecosystem of al-Shabaab and the Islamic State in Africa, analyzing the role of “independent news” outlets and their intersections with hundreds-strong networks of amplifier profiles on F
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acebook linked to a number of central pages identifying themselves as “media outlets” or “media personalities” operating in Somali, Kiswahili and Arabic. Researchers found that the network of support for al-Shabaab and Islamic State extended across several platforms, including decentralized messaging applications such as Element and RocketChat, and encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram, as well as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. A qualitative cross-platform analysis showed the most active, networked, and multilingual ecosystem of support for al-Shabaab and the Islamic State existed on Facebook, where profiles and pages classified as “media outlets” were sharing terrorist content openly and eschewing private groups and profiles. The content that ISD researchers observed through the networks is often linked to “media” and “media personality” pages in Somali, Kiswahili and Arabic, and not only violates the platform’s community guidelines, but also points to language moderation blind spots that have been previously documented by journalists as well as whistleblowers." (Publisher description)
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"It aims at providing a holistic view of digital transformation in the agriculture sector of 47 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The region’s digital agriculture landscape is assessed through six key themes, namely: infrastructure, digital penetration, policy and regulation, business environment,
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human capital and agro-innovation. Beyond the analysis of the region against the six focal themes, the report presents both the status-quo and challenges faced by countries in their digital transformation journeys, which can assist policymakers to identify possible areas of intervention to drive the process of agricultural digitalization in the region. It highlights the need to strengthen digital infrastructure for universal connectivity, to connect the unconnected in sub-Saharan Africa and to support the integration of digital technologies to advance digital agricultural transformation." (Foreword)
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"This editorial introduces the theoretical framework, methodological approach and comparative themes of the Special Issue on 'Somali Diaspora and Digital Practices: Gender, Media and Belonging'. The Special Issue proposes to connect the notion of the Somali diaspora to recent advancements in communi
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cation technologies, exploring the ways in which the Somali, specifically Somali women, keep in touch locally, nationally and transnationally through different forms of everyday digital practices. In particular for Somali migrant women, the use of digital media is highly embedded in their gendered roles as mothers, daughters, reunited wives, students and professionals, who keep the ties with the homeland and diaspora communities in diversified as well as collective ways. The close analysis of empirical findings across different sites in Europe shows multi-sitedness, generation and urban belonging as central features. These issues emerge as findings from a large ethnographic fieldwork carried out across European cities (Amsterdam, London and Rome).1 Ethnography offers an essential contribution in understanding social media practices as situated in specific social, geographical and political contexts, taking into account the intersectional dynamic of factors including gender, race, ethnicity, generation, religion and sexual orientation." (Abstract)
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"Drawing upon ethnographic investigation, this article analyses the digital media practices of second-generation British Somali women who live in London. It addresses the dynamic relationships between digital media and diasporic identity formation by focusing on how second-generation women articulat
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e their diasporic urban and transnational identities via youth-oriented online cultural spaces. It demonstrates that they use the internet and social media platforms to position themselves as urban dwellers in London and members of the global Somali diaspora at the same time. In this context, the author proposes that these young women’s digital practices create a translocal nexus that intertwines urban and transnational social fields in line with their gendered and generation-specific experiences and aspirations. Through this translocal nexus, these young women produce multilayered identities and negotiate their multiple belongings with a youth-oriented perspective and style in a digitally interconnected world." (Abstract)
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"In this comparative article we offer a critical overview of the articles included in this Special Issue, paying attention to common patterns and distinctive features. We do so by exploring the ways in which Somali migrant women living across different cities in Europe engage in everyday digital pra
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ctices. The central question that underlines this comparative investigation is how transnational multisitedness, different generations and urban localities play a role in contemporary Somali diasporic formations and take shape through digital media. We consider the multi-sitedness of Somali diaspora in light of the emergent transnational potentials of communications technologies, while keeping in focus gendered dynamics and intersectional aspects; how generation plays into processes of diasporic cultural change and continuity; and how spatial relationships of belonging are shaped by the communicative spaces that mobile devices and software platforms afford. Our findings show that to better understand the role of digitally mediated experiences, we need to focus on everyday media environments within contexts of international mobility across continental borders marked by postcolonial traces." (Abstract)
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"In this article, I inquire into the relationship between digital media practices, community making and forms of social stratification among Somali women living in Rome. Drawing on a critical approach to the study of 'digital diaspora', I use theories of 'field' and 'capitals' as analytical tools to
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examine the impact of different positionings assumed by Somali women within the local community on forms of diasporic networking through digital means. The relationality between offline and online reality is exposed, unpacking women's positioning and roles through an intersectional approach sensitive to age, class, literacy and gender dynamics. This reveals internal fractures or forms of solidarity shaping the landscape of the local field of Somali digital diaspora." (Abstract)
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