The final meeting of the “Go Far Go Together” project in 2024 during the 17th ARIJ Forum

December 6, 2024

On the side of the ARIJ17 annual forum and as a part of the Arab Fact-Checkers Network (AFCN) track, the final meeting of the “Go Far Go Together” project was held. The project, which extended six months during 2024, was successful to build the strategies of six fact-checking organisations/initiatives from five Arab countries.

The meeting was attended by 14 fact-checkers from six fact-checking organisations/initiatives participated in the project, namely Tahqaqaq and Tayqan from Palestine, Sidq from Yemen, Tunifact from Tunisia, Tahaqaq Morocco and Chayyek from Lebanon and Jordan. 

In addition, nine representatives from the organisations that won “Masar” grant and mentoring program attended the meeting. The project is supported by Meta and will start in  2025 mentoring six organisations, namely The Checker from Iraq, Annir and She Checks from Libya, Sawab from Lebanon, Fareq from Syria and Eteek24 from Yemen.

The meeting was also attended by the experts who mostly led the “Go Far Go Together” project and will contribute to the “Masar” project:

1. Hassan Shaaban – Expert in media development – Developing business model
   
   
2. Samya Ayish – ARIJ Communications Manager – Building communication strategy
   
   
3. Arwa Kooli – Professor and researcher in the field of fact-checking – Developing the fact-checking methodology and preparing for submitting to IFCN.
   
   
4. Abdullah Maksoor – Expert in the physical safety of journalists – Developing safety strategies.
   
   

The experts built on the lessons learnt from 2024 project for advancing in 2025 project, based on the needs of the organizations, as this project tailorates for the needs of each organization that is different from both managerial and geographical circumstances. 

The meeting started with the six “Go Far Go Together” organisations/initiatives, presenting their successes, achievements and developments they have made around the project period. These achievements varied between developments in communication strategies, establishing protection protocols, adopting organisational strategies that contribute to work sustainability.

The presentations were followed by comments from the four experts, as they praised the levels of advancement the organizations/initiatives did following the official closure of the project, and provided advice and guidance to “Masar” program organisations. The meeting concluded with a discussion between the attendees and experts and between colleagues in the two projects to exchange experiences and the best practices.

Ghassan Benchiheb, Director of Tahaqaq from Morocco said, “I liked the idea of ​​presenting our experiences as participants in “Go Far Go Together” project. It is an opportunity to motivate the new participants in the “Masar” program, as the meeting enabled them to see the direct impact of the project on our work and initiatives“. During his presentation, Ghassan spoke about the impact of the project and how it revived the Tahaqaq initiative with a completely new spirit and strategies .

Badra Dababi, a fact-checker at “She Checks”, one of the organisations that won “Masar” grant and program, added “It was beneficial hearing about the previous experience from colleagues to understand the structure of “Masar” project and its challenges, and we got answers to many of the questions that we had. Also, the presentations of colleagues about the impact of the “Go Far Go Together” project were very useful for us to learn from”.

It is noteworthy that the “Go Far Go Together” project is one of AFCN projects in 2024, and it was supported by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which aims to build business models, communication and safety strategies for six fact-checking organisations/initiatives from five Arab countries.