The year 2020 is a crucial year in Niger's political life with communal, regional, legislative and presidential elections scheduled to take place from next December to February. Studio Kalangou's team is preparing, with all its partners, to ensure an independent and professional coverage of these elections.

The dates chosen by the Niger Electoral Commission (CENI) for these elections are December 13, 2020 for the local and regional elections; December 27, 2020 for the first round of the presidential and legislative elections; February 21, 2021 for the 2nd round of the presidential elections.

Journalists, technicians, managers: the entire team of Studio Kalangou is preparing, with the support of Fondation Hirondelle, to ensure the widest, most accurate and professional media coverage of this important moment in Niger's political and democratic life. One single objective: to inform the people of Niger in the most fair, independent and transparent manner, so that each and everyone can make their own decisions regarding their votes with all the keys to understanding in hand.

This preparatory work is supported by the SDC (Swiss cooperation), the European Union and British cooperation (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office). It includes the following activities, implemented with the support of Fondation Hirondelle's Editorial Manager, and with the intervention of external consultants we have selected :

Electoral Charter
o Updating of the electoral charter of Studio Kalangou (attached, the final version of that charter, that will be shared with partners in Niger)
o Presentation of Studio Kalangou's Electoral Charter and Media Coverage Strategy of the electoral deadlines to the administrative, financial and technical partners of Studio Kalangou on November 6, 2020.

Website
o Putting on line a special "elections" page on the website www.studiokalangou.org, with several sections (candidates, organization, expectations of the population...) and, on election day, putting on line a continuous flow fed by Studio Kalangou's journalists and the 50 correspondents throughout the country.

Trainings
o of correspondents of the 50 media partners on the electoral charter from November 3 to November 4, 2020 in Niamey.
o of journalists from Studio Kalangou on the electoral charter and coverage of the November elections
o of 10 journalists from Studio Kalangou on the animation of the political debates between the candidates (16-19 November) by Romaine Jean, former journalist, producer and presenter of the Swiss public television RTS, and former President of the Board of Fondation Hirondelle.
o of 5 journalists from Studio Kalangou on fact-checking in November by a trainer from Samsa, a French company specialized in digital and web training for African journalists.
o of 20 Nigerien influencers on the basics of journalism and fact-checking, in partnership with GeoA (https://www.geoacenter.com/)

Productions
o Realization of 4 motion designs, translated into 5 languages, on the conduct of elections and citizen participation, for broadcast via social networks and TV partners.
o Treatment of the elections (before, during and after) within the framework of Studio Kalangou's daily programs (news magazines on the election process, media education, presentation of people's expectations / forums for debates between candidates and with citizens and representatives of civil society / video portraits of candidates and testimonies of citizens' expectations)
o Live coverage on Election Day
o Production of specific information and fact-checking content (audio, video, computer graphics) for social networks (WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook) and distribution via a network of pre-identified influencers.