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Register for online participation: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/73ed40d8-9e8c-4829-b519-4c3ca48cd6e6@92454335-564e-4ccf-b0b0-24445b8c03f7Mali, at the heart of the Sahel region marked by instability, is facing escalating armed violence, political crises, humanitarian disasters, and the weakening of social cohesion. Since 2012, the country has been undergoing a severe crisis driven by multiple factors: resource conflicts, the effects of climate change, poverty, community tensions, the absence of the state, and violence by armed groups. In this context, information has become a strategic tool. Information warfare in Mali involves manipulating public opinion through disinformation, particularly on social media, used by various actors (armed groups, states, foreign actors) to shape perceptions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) plays an increasing role in this dynamic. It enables automated data analysis, detection of fake news, and efficient information management, but it can also be used to generate sophisticated disinformation (e.g., fake news broadcasts created with AI). However, AI also holds potential for peacebuilding by supporting the dissemination of peace messages, including those in local languages. It is therefore essential to examine the uses of AI in the production and dissemination of information in Mali, assessing its ethical and political implications—whether as a driver of conflict or a tool for peace.
About the speaker: Mariame Sidibe is a Visiting Research Fellow at HUMA and a lecturer-researcher at the University of Legal and Political Sciences in Bamako, within the Faculty of Administrative and Political Sciences. She is also the head of the PASAS project (Platform for Analysis, Monitoring, and Learning in the Sahel), funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and implemented by IRD (Institute of Research for Development) and ICE (International Consulting Expertise). PASAS is an operational platform for the production and dissemination of knowledge. PASAS is aimed at informing strategic and operational decisions for development actors and guiding their interventions in fragile and crisis-affected areas in the Sahel. PASAS primarily supports AFD operations, particularly those dedicated to peacebuilding and crisis response, but is designed in a way that allows it to benefit both national and international partners. Mariame holds a PhD in Political Science from IEP Bordeaux, specializing in migration, conflict, and security issues. Her thesis was titled "A Sociopolitical Approach to the Refugee Issue in the Crisis of the State in Mali: The Case of Malian Refugees from the Tillaberi Region in Niger."
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Humanities Building, University of Cape Town, University Avenue South, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, 7700 Cape Town, South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
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