Information Pollution Mapping Programme

In 2020, UNDP launched the Information Pollution Mapping Programme as a response to the large need from UNDP Country Offices to better understand what is motivating disinformation and how it is being produced and disseminated across different socio-political contexts. The programme is managed by the Oslo Governance Centre with financial support of the Government of Norway, and UNDP Country Offices can apply for grants based on the following parameters:

Media monitoring initiatives
Data collection from national and international sources tracking information pollution
Data analytics (online listening) to detect online trends and patterns
Mapping of online/offline influencers and influential groups
Desk review of media penetration and trusted public information sources
Mapping of initiatives and organisations engaged in media monitoring, countering mis/disinformation and fact-checking

The programme seeks to understand what is motivating disinformation and is intended to support the understanding of national information landscapes and to encourage collective learning and best practice between UNDP Country Offices.

40 UNDP country offices from all five regions applied for the programme 2020, and the following countries were selected: Cambodia, Chile, Lebanon, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Ukraine and Venezuela/Panama (joint project).

December, 2020, Lebanon and Chile presented their key preliminary findings during the virtual roundtable - No Silver Bullet: Using data to develop context-sensitive solutions to disinformation.