Chairman and Information Commissioner of the Right to Access Information Commission of Sierra Leone, Dr Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, is among the carefully selected panelists invited by UNESCO to speak at the three-day Regional Conference on Information Integrity in West Africa and the Sahel from 3rd to 5th September 2025 in Praia, Cape Verde.
The Conference, which is organized by UNESCO, aims to address challenges such as misinformation, disinformation, fake news, hate speech and digital governance to foster trust in the information ecosystem in the region.
There is a significant transitioning to digital technologies in the region, especially social media which is profoundly reshaping public discussions and the flow of information. Notwithstanding its positive impacts on the fabrics of societies, this wave of information transition comes with major challenges such as traditionally and artificially generated fake news, hate speech, misinformation and disinformation. These challenges constitute existential threats to information integrity and trust as they compete with verifiable and reliable contents in the information ecosystem. These challenges demand multifaceted responses by regional and national stakeholders in information and digital governance.
Sierra Leone’s Information Commissioner, Dr Seaga Shaw, will speak in the plenary panel that will discuss and proffer workable solutions on how to leverage inclusive access to information and public interest data to strengthen information integrity in West Africa and the Sahel.
“We have made huge efforts as a nation on access to information, especially in the last seven years phenomenally jumping from 112 information requests recorded in 2019 to 13,117 in 2022 to 19,496 in 2023. And in all these years, over 90% of information requested was processed and provided. We now have digital infrastructure to make the demand for and supply of information easier and faster. I will be reflecting on the gains Sierra Leone has made in fostering information integrity, highlighting challenges and proffering viable solutions for the region. In this age of artificial intelligence and increasingly sophisticated social media ecosystem, there is definitely the need to map out regional strategies to combat misinformation, disinformation and hate speech and promote access to information and open governance,” the RAIC boss explained as he anticipates a fruitful regional conference on information integrity.
The key objectives of the conference are to promote coherent and integrated approach to policy on information integrity; enhance digital platforms governance while protecting human rights; build population resilience to disinformation and hate speech; promote linguistic diversity as well as inclusive access to information and data; and enhance multistakeholder engagement for information integrity.
The key expected outcomes of the conference are to adopt a policy framework on information integrity in West Africa and the Sahel; proffer context-relevant approaches for transparent, accountable and human-rights based governance platforms; adopt the Action Plan for Information Integrity in West Africa and the Sahel; and maximize stakeholder commitment to coordinated, sustainable, and synergistic actions in support of information integrity.
“This regional conference would not have come at a much better time to the extent that it serves as a forerunner to the 17tth edition of the International Conference of Information Commissioners to be hosted in Freetown, Sierra Leone in September 2026, focusing on information integrity in the digital age”, Dr Shaw added.
For media enquiries, contact:
Amara Thoronka
Public Information and Communications Officer
RAIC – National Secretariat
+232 88 283632 / +232 78 231949
