Locations
Information Integrity
for an Open, Inclusive Public Sphere and Informed Civic Engagement
Focus Area
Access to trustworthy and reliable information is a necessary condition for well-governed and peaceful societies. It allows for informed public debate and constructive public discourse. We now live in a world where huge volumes of information spread quickly without checks or controls and where information is ranked based on its ability to grab attention, rather than its accuracy or potential negative impacts.
Across the world, we have seen false, manipulated and misleading information overturn political and social norms and values, threaten human rights and endanger lives. It undermines the social contract and erodes trust in democratic processes and institutions. It is a potent catalyst of conflict and division, sometimes to explosive effect. It prevents informed decision-making and collective agreement on truth and fact. It impedes our ability to address the immense global challenges now facing us. This is a global problem yet it is those countries that lack robust institutions and strong independent media that are potentially most vulnerable.
Under the 2022-25 Strategic Plan, UNDP has renewed its commitment to protect and promote access to reliable information on issues of public concern. This includes countering information pollution in all its forms. The Global Policy Centre for Governance has been leading UNDP’s Information Integrity global portfolio since 2020, producing research and policy and programme guidance.
The objectives of this work are three-fold: firstly we work to improve the coherence, consistency and quality of UNDP’s information integrity programming; secondly, we ensure that the realities of information ecosystems in the contexts where UNDP operates are taken into consideration in global forums and dialogues and thirdly, we aim to close the research and knowledge gaps in this emerging field, to improve understanding of and responses to information integrity challenges in diverse contexts.
Mapping and Analysis
Mapping and Analysis of Efforts to Counter Information Pollution in Europe and Central Asia Region
To raise awareness and understand information pollution as a global phenomenon, UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and Istanbul Regional Hub have, in a joint effort, finalized a report on regional mapping and analysis which will also inform coherent and effective responses by learning from best practices implemented by various actors. Additionally, with the recent developments in the region, naming the war in Ukraine, protests in Kazakhstan, elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where misinformation is highly prevalent, we see such phenomenon as one of the key factors impacting negatively the crisis.
Exploring COVID-19 online debates and information pollution in Latin America and the Caribbean
To better understand the scale and nature of the information pollution challenge related to COVID-19 and vaccines in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to help develop policy responses, GPCG and the UNDP Panama regional hub commissioned a social and digital media research study, using a combination of artificial intelligence and human-assisted analysis methods. The research focused on the digital public sphere in Spanish and English from October 2020 to February 2021.
Policy Engagement
Global Action Coalition for Information Integrity in Elections
GPCG leads the Global Action Coalition for Information Integrity in Elections, an initiative that brings together electoral support actors to develop effective responses in partnership with civil society organizations, media, government institutions, and other stakeholders. Recognizing the importance of localized action, the Center is also focused on building national-level coalitions tailored to the specific needs and challenges of individual countries, facilitating targeted interventions and strategies that address information integrity issues faced by their electoral processes.
Defending Information Integrity: Actions for Election Stakeholders
In collaboration with Action Coalition members, UNDP convened a series of conversations in 2023 to review, revise, and update its 2023 outcome paper. This publication “Defending Information Integrity: Actions for Election Stakeholders” distills those discussions into clear and concise sets of action for online platforms, governments and regulatory bodies, Electoral Management Bodies, media organizations, and international electoral support partners.
Policy and Programme Guidance
Information Integrity for Electoral Institutions and Processes Reference Manual for UNDP Practitioners
This Reference Manual provides a compendium of best practice that spotlights UNDP’s approach to strengthening information integrity in support of electoral institutions and processes. It leverages insights from diverse programming initiatives at the global, regional and local levels and provides a consolidated overview of programmatic approaches and initiatives. It serves as a key reference tool for UNDP and its partners to identify appropriate and effective interventions, and to define their scope and timing to prevent, manage or mitigate the impact of information pollution on electoral institutions and processes.
UNDP iVerify: A Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
This framework is designed to guide effective implementation of UNDP’s iVerify solution. It is to be used as an internal tool to measure the progress of deployments toward their intended goals and objectives. iVerify is an automated fact-checking tool with elements of manual input and verification that can be used to identify false information to minimize and prevent its spread. The framework provides an overall Theory of Change and a logical framework for the iVerify solution, as well as an overall M&E plan.
Strategic Guidance: Information Integrity: Forging a pathway to Truth, Resilience and Trust
This strategic guidance is intended to provide coherence both strategically and programmatically. At the strategic level, the document explores information integrity as it relates to UNDP’s mandate and thematic areas of interest and provides a conceptual framework of terminology and definitions. At the programmatic level, it provides practical guidance for context analysis and programme design. The aim is to support UNDP country, regional and thematic teams, and their partners, to develop effective responses to information pollution. It offers guiding principles, an analytical framework and a set of proposed programmatic outcomes and outputs.
News
Our Information Integrity Team
Zana Idrizi, Information Integrity Specialist