Kouman

Democratic governance Humour Innovation Misinformation

17.6 MILLION PEOPLE REACHED

Against an electoral backdrop marked by the rapid spread of rumours and hate speech, the Kouman project is rolling out a wide-ranging information and awareness-raising campaign in Côte d’Ivoire. Social media, radio, training sessions and public dialogues: this multi-format strategy has already reached 17.6 million people and generated millions of pieces of content combating disinformation.

Amid the simmering tension of election periods, where words can soothe as much as they can inflame, the Kouman project has established itself as a distinctive voice. A pluralistic voice, indeed, as it has drawn on diverse stories, formats and faces in an attempt to answer a simple yet daunting question: how can we curb the spread of disinformation and hate speech in a public sphere saturated with images and opinions?

A multi-format strategy, a massive audience

In Côte d’Ivoire, nearly one in two people has already come across content from Kouman. This figure reveals the scale of the project – 17.6 million people reached – but does not tell the whole story. Because behind this wide audience lies a patient, almost artisanal strategy – in the etymological sense of the term – consisting of creating multiple entry points. Videos, podcasts, animated editorial cartoons: all formats designed to capture attention without being intrusive, to inform without preaching.

The stories doing the rounds

On social media – a prime breeding ground for both virality and confusion – the campaign has found its stride. It has rolled out through the release of videos, podcasts and animated editorial cartoons tackling disinformation, cyberbullying and gender-based violence. The results? 61 million views: 40 million for the Brut Afrique videos, 17 million for the Istorias Medias podcasts and 4 million for the Tâche d’encre animated cartoons. These figures are, once again, impressive, but above all they reveal how the content has been embraced by the public. The content circulates, is discussed and is reinvented. Within this vibrant ecosystem, thirty influencers – the majority of whom are women – have helped to spread it by infusing it with their own language, their own codes and their credibility. 

Radio: bringing news closer to local communities

But Kouman did not stop at screens. The project also slipped into the cracks of everyday life, where information is shared in different ways. On the radio, a fictional story took shape, accompanied by 300 programmes in local languages. On the airwaves, disinformation is no longer an abstraction: it becomes a story, a discussion, a debate rooted in community realities. This content, made available to local radio stations (180 member stations of the Union of Local Radio Stations of Côte d’Ivoire), was broadcast 11,250 times in just a few months – in the last quarter of 2025 alone – reaching every corner of the country.

Training media professionals: a tool against disinformation

This content production work was complemented by a capacity-building initiative. Training to inform more effectively: supporting 45 journalists in the production of election programmes; raising awareness among 30 influencers (including 19 women) about the mechanisms of disinformation; and providing an introduction to media and information literacy for no fewer than 1,188 young leaders (including 532 women). Here again, the figures matter, but it is their practical impact that counts: better equipping the media, making society as a whole more vigilant, and reclaiming spaces for dialogue.

Creating spaces for dialogue in a tense climate

It was precisely these spaces that took shape during 16 citizen dialogue sessions. Whether online or in person, they brought together a total of 24,750 people. These exchanges were at times heated, but often necessary, as perceptions and experiences were set against one another. Because combating disinformation is not just about correcting facts… it is about rebuilding trust! Ultimately, Kouman does not promise to silence tensions. It offers something else: to open up spaces where they can be named, understood and discussed. In an election context, that is already a great deal. It may well be essential.

A complementary initiative

Kouman forms part of a wider ecosystem. Complemented by the Désinfox Côte d’Ivoire project, implemented by CFI and Polaris with funding from the Crisis and Situation Centre of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (CDCS), it has enabled to train a further 240 journalists and 15,000 secondary school pupils and university students in media literacy. This synergy reflects a shared ambition: to engage both those who produce information and those who receive it.