The project “Empowering Vulnerable Youth in Central Asia to Counter Hate Speech and Propaganda through Educational Games (QLEVER+)” aims to increase the level of critical thinking among vulnerable audiences in Central Asia through educational online games and offline events. This project was launched in October 2023 and is a logical continuation of the BRYCA project, successfully implemented by partners in 2020-2022. 

 The main component of the project is the development of the QLEVER platform, an educational and entertaining online portal developed by a group of partners with the aim of developing critical thinking and increasing the resilience of vulnerable youth in Central Asia to disinformation, propaganda, violent radicalism and the spread of hate speech on the Internet through themed online games and encouragement. 

 QLEVER users are young people in remote areas of Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan aged 12 to 35 years, in Uzbekistan – from 18 to 35 years. Today, there are more than 130,000 active players in Central Asia, of which more than 48,000 are from Kazakhstan. 

 In addition to educational and entertainment games developed by partners to increase the level of media and information literacy, information and news materials, interactive surveys, quizzes and more are posted on the platform. Users can exchange the points collected in the activities for real gifts in the “Store” section. 

 The use of the platform is free of charge and does not require users to make monetary or other material investments. The Service is used for non-commercial purposes and does not provide commercial services. 

 All content of the platform is available in Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Uzbek and Russian languages. 

 QLEVER is available for digital media based on the Android operating system, including the website www.qlever.asia It is available using Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Opera browsers. 

 In addition, important components of the project are activities to raise awareness among young people and teachers about media and information literacy and fact–checking, as well as to improve interaction in the region within the framework of MIL Camps – field training camps and networking events in partner countries. 

 It is also planned to implement a small grants program for members of the Eurasian Fact-Checking and Media Literacy Network (EFMN) to support and develop fact-checking in Central Asian countries by providing financial support and mentoring to organizations dealing with this topic. 

 The project is carried out by the project partners: ERIM (Equal Rights and Independent Media, France), MediaNet International Centre for Journalism Public Foundation (Kazakhstan), Media Sabak Public Foundation (Kyrgyzstan) and Gurdofarid Public Organization (Tajikistan) with the support of the Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor of the U.S. Department of State (DRL).  

Contact us for more information: Alyona Koshkina, Qlever+ Project Manager in Kazakhstan: alyona@medianet.ngo , +77479879879