The Global Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Week is commemorated annually in October and is a major occasion for stakeholders to review and celebrate the progress made towards achieving “MIL for All”.
This edition further highlights how we can address disinformation and divides by recognising our shared interest in improving everyone’s competencies to engage with the opportunities and risks in today’s landscape of communication, technology, and information.
As the world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to develop media and information literacy skills is more critical than ever. The current COVID-19 pandemic is accompanied by an infodemic challenge. The use of relevant information and the technological means to communicate it is becoming one of the most significant response to the pandemic. The way in which people are exposed to information, both good and bad, the modalities of digital participation, trust and transparency, media and information literacy are all elements that influence resilience to mis and dis information.
The theme for this year’s Global MIL Week, Resisting the Disinfodemic: Media and Information Literacy for and by everyone highlights how we can look to addressing disinformation and divides by recognizing our shared interest in improving everyone’s capabilities to engage with the opportunities and risks in today’s media and information landscape.
Penplusbytes under the auspices of UNESCO and with support from DW Akademie, Ghana Institute of Journalism, University of Ghana and the Ghana Commission for UNESCO launched the Global MIL Week. The celebration includes workshops/seminars, webinars, online discussions and a social media campaign starting from 23rd to 30th of October 2020.