Background of the Action Coalition 

Risks posed to electoral processes from information pollution have notably increased in recent years. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the foremost provider of electoral support within the UN system. In recent years, UNDP and other global and regional electoral support actors have been investing to develop and deploy risk mitigation and response measures to protect the integrity of information ecosystems during elections. In order to build a collective understanding of the challenges and responses of tackling electoral information pollution, UNDP launched the Action Coalition on Information Integrity in Elections in May 2022, supported by the Danish Government’s Tech4Democracy Initiative. Under the leadership of UNDP’s Global Policy Center for Governance, as part of its Strategic Dialogue series, the Action Coalition continues to convene with the following objectives: 

  • To improve information sharing and coordination among key stakeholders in electoral assistance and support, to include representatives from the technology sector. 
  • To assess and understand the most concerning impacts of disinformation on electoral integrity. 
  • To gather and examine best practice and case studies to develop effective programmatic recommendations and guidance and when relevant – coordinate responses to threats to information ecosystems. 
  • To critically assess emerging analysis, approaches and recommendations within this field and seek to develop and contribute new thinking and positions on relevant issues. 

Since 2022, the coalition held regular meetings bringing experts from the field to discuss the information integrity. Additionally, the coalition has conducted a 4-week global e-consultation on promoting information integrity in elections, published an outcome paper, and organised a hybrid dialogue between Action Coalition and national electoral actors. 

Member Organizations

The member organizations are the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), PANOS Institute Southern Africa, Samir Kassir Foundation, Africa Freedom of Information Centre, and the Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation, University of Birmingham. 

Contact 

For further information please contact niamh.hanafin@undp.org or zana.idrizi@undp.org