Newsletter: Winter2020

December 18, 2020

Dear friends,

This year is coming to a close – and what a year 2020 has been!

Yet while the pandemic has had a huge impact on the daily realities for most of us, it has also provided a great lesson in staying flexible and learning to adapt to an ever changing world.

We (and our partners) had to experiment with shifting events online and changing the way we interact, from events as large as the global #peacejam to those as small as our weekly team meetings. And it worked!

We are also trying new ways of staying in touch, and as a result, you are now reading our first newsletter. We’d love to hear your feedback on what content matters most to you, and what you’d like to hear more about. So feel free to reach out to us with any comments at info@openculture.agency.

Here at r0g, we are all looking forward to a time when we are able to safely be together again, but in the meantime we are also grateful that our team has thus far stayed healthy. We hope the same is true for you.

Some recent highlights:

#MMN @ Borders of Fear

As part of the Disruption Network Lab’s focus on Borders of Fear, the r0g_agency’s
#migrantmedianetwork hosted sessions that focused on migration from African countries to Germany, including the visa application process, data privacy, and safe passages.

What to learn more about the Kafkaesque experience of applying for a visa? Read about it on our blog here.

#defyhatenow Cameroon

Our #defyhatenow project launched its Social Media Hate Speech Mitigation Field Guide for Cameroon, available in French and English. The guide, currently also in development for Ethiopia, provides tools to identify and counteract online hate speech and incitement to violence. More about this project can be found here.

We’d also like to congratulate
our South Sudanese #defyhatenowpartners for launching programs aimed at tackling fake news, especially misinformation surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic.

#ASKnet update

Our #ASKnet partners have been running events aimed at empowering others through strengthened media literacy, community training, and open technology skills.

At the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement in Uganda a#peacejamconcert was held and broadcast online by Platform Africa, as part of this year’s International Day of Peace. They also hosted a #ASKLens workshop focusing on digital photography skills and how to tell stories through photography. See more of Platform Africa’s work in this great video.

In South Sudan, the GoGirlsICTteam began to successfully implement virtual, remote learning in response to the Covid-19 challenge – facilitating education aimed especially at girls and young women.

Interested in supporting our work ?
Any amount helps! Donate here.

As we head towards 2021, we hope you are all staying healthy and are wishing you and yours a calm and peaceful holiday season and a strong start to the new year.

Your r0g_team