REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION INTEGRITY IN WEST AFRICA AND THE SAHEL

Dakar, 05 September 2025 - The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Mr. Leonardo Santos Simão, participated on 5 September in the final stage of the Regional Conference on Information Integrity in West Africa and the Sahel, which was held in Praia, Cape Verde, from 3 to 5 September 2025,  in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Cape Verde, Ulisses Correia e Silva.

On this occasion, Mr. Simão praised the commitment of the Cape Verdean authorities in organizing and hosting this important regional event. He also congratulated all the participants for the quality of the exchanges and the relevance of the recommendations made, in favor of an ethical, reliable and transparent information space in the sub-region.

The Special Representative reaffirmed the unwavering commitment of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS) to continue its cooperation with UNESCO and other partners, with a view to supporting the States of the region in the implementation of the Praia Policy Framework adopted today by the Conference.

He stressed that this initiative is fully in line with collective efforts to strengthen the resilience of West African and Sahel societies to the threats posed by disinformation and information manipulation, both of which undermine democratic governance, fuel tensions and jeopardize peace and social cohesion.

Mr. Simão called for a coordinated mobilization of all actors — public institutions, regulatory bodies, media, civil society and international partners — to translate the commitments made into concrete actions, and to build an information environment that protects human rights, social cohesion and is a vector of stability.