Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Fundación para la Internacionalización de las Administraciones Públicas (FIAP), in partnership with FactCheckAfrica, has trained young advocates in Rivers State on digital advocacy, with a focus on increasing women’s participation in politics and combating gendered disinformation and online harassment.

The three-day training, which held from August 11 to 13, brought together young advocates and digital communicators from the Southern geopolitical zones, equipping them with practical skills to develop social media campaigns capable of influencing public discourse and creating safer and more inclusive spaces for women in political and civic life.

The initiative was organised under Activity 3.1.5a(3)iii — Support to social media advocacy campaigns led by youth and focused on women — within Thematic Area 1: Mis/Disinformation, Fact-checking and AI Learning of the European Union Support to ECOWAS in Peace, Security and Governance (EPSG) Project.

The Rivers State training is the first of two regional cycles designed to engage 70 young advocates, with the second cycle scheduled to hold in Abuja from August 18 to 20 for participants from the Northern and Central zones.

At the training, participants examined the persistent barriers to women’s political participation in Nigeria and explored the strategic role young Nigerians could play in changing narratives through digital platforms.

Particular attention was paid to gendered disinformation, hate speech and online harassment, which the organisers identified as growing challenges capable of discouraging women from participating in political and civic spaces.

The participants were trained to identify harmful narratives, respond to online attacks and develop advocacy campaigns while taking measures to protect themselves against digital threats.

They also received hands-on training in developing platform-specific content for Instagram, X, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn, with sessions covering campaign objectives, target audiences, message development, communication boundaries, anticipated backlash and content strategies.

On the second day, the participants developed advocacy messages and content around women’s political participation, using the “Half the Room” animated explainer as a model for creating digital advocacy materials.

They also developed four-week content calendars and received campaign resources, including the Safe Campaigning Against Online Harassment Guide and Youth and Democracy in Nigeria Guide.

The final day focused on digital safety, coalition-building and campaign deployment, with participants receiving training on operational security, protection against doxxing and harassment, legal options and safety measures for digital campaigns.

The programme concluded with a Campaign Launch Clinic and Peer Showcase, during which participants refined no-cost campaigns expected to be deployed within 14 days of the training.

Speaking on the initiative, Founder of FactCheckAfrica, Abideen Olasupo, said women’s political participation was about more than numerical representation, stressing the importance of ensuring that women’s voices and experiences shaped public conversations.

“Women’s political participation is not only a question of representation; it is also a question of whose voices are amplified, whose experiences shape public conversations, and who feels safe enough to participate,” Olasupo said.

He added that young Nigerians were already playing a significant role in shaping the country’s digital public sphere, making it necessary to equip them with the tools and safety frameworks required to use their influence responsibly.

According to the organisers, participants are expected to deploy their campaigns within their respective digital communities after the training and participate in post-training accountability and coalition-building activities.

The campaigns will also be monitored through participant self-reporting and hashtag tracking to assess their reach and impact.

FIAP and FactCheckAfrica said the initiative was aimed at strengthening the capacity of young Nigerians to use digital platforms to promote inclusive civic participation while addressing the information and safety challenges that continue to limit women’s participation in democratic processes.

The programme is part of the EU Support to ECOWAS in Peace, Security and Governance Project, a multi-donor initiative focused on strengthening peace, democratic governance and regional stability across ECOWAS member states.

The project is supported by the European Union, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, and jointly implemented by GIZ, Expertise France and FIAP.