At the beginning of July, the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), through the EURECS II Ethiopia project, supported a workshop dedicated to reflecting on, evaluating and capturing lessons learned from the work of the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) during Ethiopia's 2026 electoral process. Bringing together representatives of the Coalition of Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations for Elections (CECOE), members of the MMU, ECES experts and technical staff, the workshop provided a platform to assess the Unit's contribution to CECOE's election observation mission and identify priorities for the future. The event opened with welcome remarks and an overview of its objectives delivered jointly by representatives of ECES and CECOE. Amirouche Nedjaa, ECES Media Monitoring Unit Expert, facilitated the workshop sessions together with the Media Monitors and CECOE representatives.
Established to support CECOE throughout the 2026 electoral process, the Media Monitoring Unit played a central role in monitoring traditional, digital and social media, identifying emerging narratives, tracking compliance with electoral regulations, monitoring political party debates, and providing evidence-based analysis to strengthen observation, reporting and informed decision-making. Its work also contributed to enhancing transparency and accountability throughout the electoral environment.
The workshop enabled participants to review the MMU's mandate, activities and outputs while assessing the usefulness of its reports and analyses for CECOE's communication, observation and reporting functions. Discussions highlighted key achievements and good practices, identified operational, technical and institutional challenges, and captured lessons learned to inform future electoral support initiatives.
Through interactive discussions, participatory SWOT analysis and working groups, participants explored the future sustainability of the MMU, opportunities for institutionalising media monitoring capacities, and ways to strengthen collaboration between CECOE, ECES and the MMU. The workshop also produced recommendations for enhancing operational capacities, post-election media monitoring and strategic communication.
A dedicated session focused on the Media Monitoring System and the growing role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in future media monitoring efforts. Participants discussed the potential of AI-assisted tools to support social media monitoring, detect election-related narratives, identify hate speech, counter disinformation and misinformation, and strengthen fact-checking, while emphasising the importance of ethical safeguards, data protection and human oversight.
The workshop concluded with the validation of recommendations and priority actions aimed at strengthening future media monitoring initiatives. Expected outcomes include a consolidated assessment of the MMU's performance, a lessons learned matrix, technical recommendations for improving the Media Monitoring System, and a roadmap for integrating advanced digital tools into future electoral support activities.
By promoting institutional learning, innovation and evidence-based media analysis, EURECS II Ethiopia continues to support stronger, more transparent and resilient electoral institutions and civil society actors committed to safeguarding electoral integrity.
