The Bamako Forum continues to create space for multi-sectoral practitioners and policymakers across the Sahel to collaborate and engage on digital and cohesion cohesion. Upcoming events are designed to facilitate policy, create community, and elevate the voices of academics and practitioners to reach decision-makers at national, regional, and international levels.
Upcoming Events
The Digital Space : a double-edged sword for peace and trust in West Africa? Addressing mis/disinformation and building peace online – a discussion in Dakar, November 19-21st.
Search for Common Ground is hosting a panel at KPAC24: Building trust, pacifying power, connecting realities. The panel will cover recent Sahelian initiatives to make the digital space safer, as well as discussing the impact of youth influencers on combating false information and hate speech online.
Bamako Forum Limited Convening, November 25-26th.
Bamako Forum partners, academics and policymakers from across the Sahel are meeting to discuss the opportunities and struggles with social cohesion in the region. Beyond expert panels, discussion between participants will allow for the creation of concrete policy recommendations to boost unity and multi-actor collaboration.
Past Events
Report Briefing and Panel Discussion: Sahelian Women in Digital Spaces
Following the conclusion of the Bamako Forum on Digital and Social Cohesion in September 2023, Search for Common Ground (Search) in partnership with the Tilwate Peace Network published a report in June 2024 titled “Sahelian Women in Digital Spaces,” authored by Dalanda Moukala and Fatima Al-Ansar. As part of the report’s dissemination, Search held a virtual event on August 29, 2024, and brought together report co-author Fatima Al-Ansar, Chief of Staff at Human Intelligence Theodora Skeadas, Policy Officer of West Africa (Search) Habibou Bako, moderated by Search’s Executive Director of Digital Peacebuilding Lena Slachmuijlder, to discuss the findings of the report and the role of social media platforms in enabling technology-facilitated gender based violence (TFGBV) against women in the Sahel.
Launch Event: September 19-20th, 2023 in Bamako, Mali
Search for Common Ground, in partnership with the Coordinating Committee on the Bamako Forum, hosted an official launch event which brought together civil society, researchers, policymakers, and tech and social cohesion experts to share their experiences and create space for discussion and collaboration across sectors. Out of this convening, the assembly created a declaration on digital and social cohesion which can be accessed here.
Conference Debate: Social Media and Personal Data Protection in the Era of Digitalization of Malian Society
This half-day event explored the links between digitalization, social media, mis/disinformation, conflict, and peace as part of the Forum. Bringing together experts, academics, civil society actors, and policy makers, the conference focused on the protection and safe collection of personal data, offering insights into the current landscape in addition to recommendations for best practices and legal/political frameworks. A recap of the event is available here.