In addition to the five countries analyzed in later sections of this report, other countries in the region have developed important verification initiatives. Ecuador, for example, is among the countries with the most fact-checking initiatives: four. The UDLA Channel Chequea project was created by students from Universidad de Las Américas (University of the Americas) and is linked to the university TV channel. The project has received financial support from the US Embassy. Media and professionals in Ecuador also participate in combating disinformation through Fundamedios, which was formed by journalists and has on its boards directors of communication media in the country. The group coordinates the Ecuador Verifica project, which brings together journalists from various types of media. There are also examples of collective projects that bring together different actors. The website PolétikaRD, based in the Dominican Republic, was created to monitor the speeches of politicians, and now also does fact checking. The project is managed by a network of civil society organizations that work with issues such as housing, budget, gender, children and adolescents, and transparency. Fact-checking agencies on the continent have joined forces in an alliance, called Latam Chequea, formed by thirty-four organizations from seventeen countries and coordinated by the Argentinian initiative Chequeado. The goal of the alliance is to bring together organizations working on the issue so that they can exchange experiences and enhance joint action. Latam Chequea is supported by Google News Initiative. The group includes AFP Factual and Salud con Lupa, which operate in several Latin American countries; Aos Fatos and Estadão Verifica, from Brazil; Bolívia Verifica, from Bolivia; Mala Espina Check, from Chile; La Silla Vacía and Colombia Check, from Colombia; No Coma Cuento (La Nación) and La Voz de Guanacaste, from Costa Rica; Periodismo de Barrio and El Toque, from Cuba; Ecuador Chequea and GK, from Ecuador; EFE Verifica, Maldita, and Newtral, from Spain; Agencia Ocote, from Guatemala; Animal Político, Spondeo Media, and Verificado, from Mexico; Despacho 505, from Nicaragua; El Surtidor, from Paraguay; Convoca, OjoPúblico, and Verificador (La República), from Peru; Observador and Polígrafo, from Portugal; PolétikaRD, from the Dominican I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH Republic; UyCheck, from Uruguay; and Cotejo, Efecto Cocuyoy (also known as Cocuyo Chequea), and EsPaja, from Venezuela. Latam Chequea has launched a special website on the Covid-19 pandemic, called CoronaVerificado (“Verified Corona”), in partnership with a global initiative carried out by the International FactChecking Network (IFCN). The portal reports on findings and corrections of information about various topics related to the pandemic, such as prevention measures, guidelines from health authorities, vaccination, and characteristics of the virus. In addition, it monitors the measures taken by the governments of the region in relation to the pandemic. MEDIA LITERACY A third front of action in Latin America is media education and audience sensitization. UNESCO has promoted events and released materials aimed at encouraging media education both at the international and at the regional level. More recently, it has also directed efforts at initiatives to train audiences and information producers in critical skills, based on concerns around the issue of fake news. UNESCO has launched a global initiative, called MIL Clicks, focused on critical information and communication competencies related to various internet usage practices, such as searching for and accessing information or producing and publishing content.15 The initiative’s training and awareness materials have been disseminated in the region and translated into the languages spoken in the countries (Spanish and Portuguese). UNESCO also coordinates an international network of actors involved in media education, called GAPMIL. The group promotes events and develops initiatives. Each year, there is a week in which the topic of media education is addressed by the members of GAPMIL in each region and country. In 2018, UNESCO released a guide called Journalism, Fake News, and Disinformation, which describes and analyzes the phenomenon and points out ways to confront it (Ireton and Posetti 2018). UNESCO’s offices in Latin America disseminated the material and used it in their initiatives, as did other actors in the region. The organization has also committed itself to reflecting on the responses to the problem in the region, in a more recent publication that analyzes the regulatory initiatives related to disinformation and hate speech (Pita 2021). In the context of the pandemic, media education materials related to Covid-19 and public health were also translated. In Brazil, UNESCO Latin America and the Caribbean – 89