Do you want to strengthen information integrity in Ethiopia?
Code for Africa (CfA) is offering three sentinel fellowships to frontline grassroots researchers and journalists with expertise in social media listening and analysis and a strong understanding of cross-platform coordination and messaging on platforms such as Facebook, Telegram, TikTok, WhatsApp, and X (formerly Twitter).
The two-month, part-time fellowships are part of a joint initiative between CfA and the UN Office of the Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa (OSE-Horn) to strengthen information integrity by detecting, disrupting, and deplatforming malign actors in Ethiopia during the election period.
The fellowship aims to protect inclusive democracy and human rights in the digital age. It leverages digital technologies to strengthen democracy, with a focus on hate speech, disinformation, incitement, negative ethnicity discourse such as ethnic hatred, LGBTQ+ related discourse, and gendered hate within the Ethiopian election information ecosystem.
What fellows will do:
Successful applicants will work with CfA’s forensic investigations team, iLAB, to provide information that will guide the creation of early warning alerts for early warning and response during the Ethiopian elections. The Media Sentinels will support early warning systems for incitement to violence, the detection of hate speech and discriminatory harassment, tracking patterns of dehumanisation, exclusion, ethnic cleansing rhetoric, and targeted attacks, as well as identifying coordinated campaigns, including hashtag- and slogan-based mobilisation, and other forms of information manipulation and interference (IMI) within Ethiopia.
In addition, the selected fellows will be responsible for collecting and validating words, phrases, slogans, slang, and slurs linked to hate speech and harmful narratives.
A team of international experts from iLAB will train and mentor fellows to analyse data from an ongoing threat-actor mapping that partner organisations have developed as part of the project.
Fellowship package
The programme will run for two months and will include:
- Stipend: Fellows will receive a competitive monthly stipend depending on their influence as macro or nano influencers and experience in similar previous projects.
- Training and mentoring: CfA will provide advanced training and mentoring in traditional and social media monitoring.
Are you eligible?
The fellowships will enable individuals to use their social media and analytics skills in conjunction with CfA’s watchlists and lexicons, to proactive pre-group, interpret and communicate early warning signals for early detection of toxic online content.
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- You must be non-partisan, without any link to government agencies, paramilitary organisations, political parties, state-affiliated media, or other bodies that might create the perception of partisanship in either national or local politics.
- You must be fluent in Amharic, English, + ≥1 of the following languages: Afan-Oromo, Oromo, Somali and Tigrinya.
- You must have access to a reliable personal laptop or computer with stable internet connectivity to participate in programme activities, online classes, and mentorship sessions.
- You must demonstrate an understanding of using social media platforms such as Facebook, Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp, and X.
- You must be available for weekly one-hour virtual meetings.
The deadline for applications is 17 April 2026.
To apply, complete this form.
Questions? Reach out to john.n@codeforafrica.org or jacktone.momanyi@codeforafrica.org.
About the partners:
Code for Africa is Africa’s largest civic technology and open data incubator. The organisation supports digital democracy and investigative data journalism initiatives to give citizens access to actionable information and amplify citizen voices to make society more responsive and accountable. CfA’s mission is to leverage technology and data to foster digital democracies and empower citizens by providing actionable information.
The African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) is the only continent-wide research coalition focused on understanding how disinformation and influence or information operations are being used to subvert African democracies or watchdog institutions. The initiative is member-driven, consisting of 15 organisations that run substantive Africa-focused analytical research or investigations. Find out more about ADDO’s activities and members here.
To all recruitment agencies: CfA does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our employment application line, CfA employees or any other CfA contact. CfA is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
Please note: Due to high volumes of applications, we are unable to respond to each one individually. If you are selected for an interview, we will contact you.
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