PPLAAF’s West Africa office, also known as « La Maison de l’Alerte », opened its doors in Dakar, Senegal in 2020.
The « Maison de l’Alerte » is a central place for PPLAAF, for whistleblowers in Africa, but also for all the people and organizations involved in the whistleblowing process and its popularization. The activities it organizes aim to raise awareness among the media, lawyers and any relevant professional body about whistleblowing, to educate people about the role of whistleblowers in a democratic society and to highlight the courage of whistleblowers and the progress they have made.
As a space for meetings and exchanges, the « Maison de l’Alerte » brings together a network of actors from different fields (human rights defenders, activists, civil society and political figures) who can act as a citizen shield for the protection of whistleblowers. The « Maison de l’Alerte » is also a place for the resurgence of democratic debate, the fight against corruption, the harm to the public interest and the formation of public opinion.
The Media Workshops or « Les Ateliers des Médias »
The Media Workshops is a training program dedicated to journalists, activists, influencers, institutional actors and professionals from public and private administrations. This activity takes place regularly at the « Maison de l’Alerte » and brings together groups of six people for four days of capacity building on the concept of whistleblowing and whistleblower protection.
In addition to its educational character, the Workshops allow the gradual building of a network of whistleblower protectors. Each workshop ends with a public conference on topical issues related to whistleblowing.
The Media Workshops, PPLAAF’s first project in Dakar, are supported by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Senegal.
The OCWAR-M project
PPLAAF has partnered with Expertise France in the OCWAR-M project, a EU funded project. The OCWAR-M project aims to strengthen the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism in the countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in Mauritania. In the coming years, PPLAAF will participate in training sessions for journalists and lawyers on whistleblower protection in all ECOWAS countries. These meetings will allow PPLAAF to exchange with the participants on the above-mentioned topics and to follow up with those lawyers and journalists who will be able to play a long-term role in their countries in the protection of whistleblowers.
To support these meetings, PPLAAF produces country reports on each ECOWAS member state. These reports provide an overview of the whistleblower protection legislation in force in each country. They list, if they exist, the national institutions habilitated to receive a report and the whistleblowers who have already blown the whistle in the country. These reports allow whistleblowers, as well as the individuals and organizations supporting them, to have an overview of the protections in force in their country and to have all the necessary information.
Find here the report of Benin, Burkina Faso, (…)
« Résurgences » or art in the service of whistleblowing
As part of the 2022 biennial, the Maison de l’Alerte hosted the exposition « Résurgences ». Résurgences is a textile, sound and multimedia restitution of the socio-political struggles led by citizen movements in Africa. It is a powerful and moving exposition that allows the viewer to experience the passion, energy and hope of these critical moments in the history of activism and engagement in the continent.
Indeed, PPLAAF believes that linking whistleblowers to citizen movements is essential to ensure better protection for them. In public opinion and in the face of the media, citizens movements are invaluable allies and real shields in case of a discrediting campaign.
At this occasion, a continuous screening of the film on PPLAAF’s latest revelations Congo Hold-up called “Congo’s Missing Millions” was provided.
