Since 2019, Penplusbytes – the hub for MIL advocacy in Ghana, has been at the forefront of implementing media and information literacy (MIL) projects with the aim of building MIL competencies among Ghanaians that would enable them to critically access, analyze, and reflect on their media consumption behaviors and produce media responsibly, ethically, and positively.
However, a 2022 assessment report evaluating Penplusbytes’ media and information literacy (MIL) initiatives undertaken from 2019 – 2021 revealed that some new segments of the Ghanaian population need to be media and information literate since most of Penplusbytes MIL initiatives focused on young persons between the ages of 15 and 35 in three regions of the country (Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Northern Regions).
For this reason, Penplusbytes intends to pursue a different direction this year with its MIL project. In light of this, Penplusbytes with support from DW Akademie is set to launch a competitive call among its MIL alumni group, consisting of persons who have benefitted from Penplusbytes’ trainings and programs; where innovative and impactful community-based MIL interventions created and designed by alumni members will be partially funded using a micro-grant scheme.
This initiative is aimed at encouraging alumni members to make use of their knowledge and skills in MIL while influencing their communities. As such, 10 selected alumni members with well-defined creative interventions scheduled for July to November 2023 will be supported with micro-grants to implement their MIL interventions.
According to the programme manager, Precious Ankomah, “interest in media and information literacy (MIL) continues to grow worldwide. And over the years, Penplusbytes has consistently organized several MIL initiatives, such as stakeholder engagements, MIL training workshops for the youth, market roadshows, and many others to build the MIL competences of Ghanaians. This year, as part of our initiatives to equip individuals with MIL skills, PPB wants to leverage on our MIL alumni members to reach the unreached with MIL education”.
Touching on when the call will be made, she stated, “There will be a project launch webinar on Friday, July 7th 2023 at 11 a.m., which will further explain the expectations and remit of the scheme and network.” Details for the webinar are as follows:
Access through the Link: Topic: Launch of MIL Alumni Network Ghana and Micro-Grant Scheme
Meanwhile, as part of MIL activities for this year, Penplusbytes has held a 3-day training each in selected special schools in three regions of the country. The training kicked off at the State School for the Deaf at Ashaiman in the Greater Accra region from May 19th to 21st, 2023, then moved to Cape Coast School for the Deaf and made a final stop at Ashanti School for the Deaf in the Ashanti region.
For updates and more information on the launch and the micro-grant scheme and other MIL interventions, follow Penplusbytes on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.