IP and Citizen Journalism - Senegal

IP and Citizen Journalism is an IP awareness-raising project for school students, designed and implemented by the WIPO Building Respect for IP Division (BRIP) with the generous support of the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MSCT). 

The pilot project was launched in 2019 in Soweto, South Africa, in coordination with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) and Vuselela Media, a non-profit youth development agency. The initiative aims to introduce secondary school students to the principles of IP and the importance of respecting it. Interactive training sessions show them how to use smartphones as tools for citizen journalism to create their own news reports focused on respect for IP.  

This year, IP and Citizen Journalism workshops took place in two schools in Keur Massar , #Dakar, #Senegal, in partnership with the IP Office of Senegal – l'Association Sénégalaise pour la propriété industrielle et l'innovation technologique (ASPIT). This workshop was the first of its kind in a French-speaking African country. The enthusiasm of the selected 81 students and the organizers was remarkable! 

Special thanks go to Mr. Makhtar Dia (Director General) and Mr. Fady Diallo (Technical Director), ASPIT; Mr. Diop-Niang (Adjutant Police Officer), Brigade for the Fight against Piracy and Counterfeiting; Mr. Chingo Sy, rap musician and President of Africa Nitte Family and Mr. Ahmadou Aliou Sow, media specialist and journalist.