Tamale, Ghana – June 12, 2025- FactSpace West Africa wrapped up its series of co-design and co-creation workshops across the Southern, Middle and Northern belts towards the implementation of the Interactive Voice Response (IVR-based) to tackle mis/disinformation in underserved communities.
The project relies on IVR technology that will enable citizens to access verified information through their mobile phones using local languages and intuitive audio prompts, which require no internet connectivity.
The final leg of the workshop, which took place at the Nim Avenue Hotel in Tamale, marked the end of the northern belt session with participants from the various civil society organisations, local journalists, and youth groups in the Upper West Region, the Upper East, the North-East Region and the Northern Region.
Previous workshops were held in Accra and Kumasi on May 14, 2025, and June 10, 2025, respectively.
Participants in Tamale were taken through the functions of the IVR platform, as they developed key messages on areas such as Hate Speech, Health Misinformation, and the threat of AI and Synthetic content.
“I think this project will be very great for the offline users because if you’re able to call to get the information that you need, or you’re able to determine whether the information you’re about to share is fake or not,” said Nuhu Nasara Zubaida, a representative of youth group, Rural Connect.
Yahaya Masahudu, a Freelance Journalist and Fellow of the Kwame Karikari Fact-checking and OSINT Fellowship, believes that once the IVR platform goes live, the “fight against mis/disinformation will be won,” another participant shared his views on the project.
Present at the workshop were representatives from the National Media Commission, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), the National Peace Council, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), academics from the Tamale Technical University, CSOs in the Information Integrity space, youth groups, local journalists, and students from the Media and Information Literacy clubs.
IVR pilot by FactSpace West Africa
The IVR platform is currently in its pilot stage with a trial recording, extracted from the co-creation and co-designed session from the southern belt held in Accra, was played during the workshops in Kumasi and Tamale for feedback from the carefully selected stakeholders.
The activity helped shape messages relevant for underserved communities. This initiative is part of the FactWide project being implemented by FactSpace West Africa.
What next?
The inputs from all three co-creation workshops in the southern belt, the middle belt, and the northern belt, would be incorporated into the final product on the IVR platform.
The final product will include technical details with language translations and key messages before the platform is fully rolled out later this year.
