Across West Africa, journalists, media outlets, and activists continue to face repression, with governments and powerful actors using arrests, intimidation, and censorship to stifle dissent. The region’s civic space is shrinking, and freedom of expression (FOE) remains under threat, exacerbated by a climate of impunity that emboldens perpetrators. With support from the 11th Hour Project of The Schmidt Family Foundation, MFWA continues to monitor and document these violations to advocate for a free and open civic space in the region.
The monitoring of the region in September 2024 revealed attacks and arrests of journalists (including a French journalist) and activists in Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali and Guinea-Bissau, which exposes the hostile environment within which journalists, activists, and civil society organisations operate. These acts of repression harm not only journalists and activists, but also the broader society.
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