"Die Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (EZ) ist in Deutschland das Politikfeld mit der längsten Evaluationstradition. Alle größeren deutschen EZ-Organisationen nutzen das Instrument der Evaluation – quantitativ und qualitativ jedoch in sehr unterschiedlichem Maße. Diese zwei Bände umfassende Studie
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im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ) untersucht mit erheblichem methodischen Aufwand, wie die einzelnen EZ-Organisationen evaluieren, was sie über die Wirkungen der von ihnen geförderten Projekte und Programme wissen und ob und wie sich die Evaluationssysteme der einzelnen Organisationen zu einem sinnvollen Ganzen zusammenfügen. Eine vergleichbare Studie liegt bisher weder über ein anderes Politikfeld in Deutschland noch über die Evaluation in der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit in einem anderen Land Europas vor." (Verlagsbeschreibung)
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"SjCOOP1 objectives were to (1) develop a network of professional science journalists in Africa, North Africa and in the Middle East; (2) put in place national and regional associations of science journalists; and (3) strengthen the World Federation of Science Journalists as a supportive partner of
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science journalists in the developing world. In 2009, at the end of SjCOOP, networks of science journalists are now in place in Africa and in the Arab World. Each network is made of one regional association complemented by national associations. The African network includes nine national associations (6 created by SjCOOP) with a total membership of 408 journalists. The Arab network is mainly represented by a pan-Arab association with two national associations (created through SjCOOP) representing some 215 journalists. [...] Twelve associations from the developing world are now official members of the World Federation of Science Journalists and eight are twinned with associations in Asia, Europe and North America. This new global network in science journalism creates an incentive for better reporting and increased recognition of science journalists in the developing world." (Executive summary, page 6)
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"This five-page report details the results of an evaluation of four community radio stations in rural Sierra Leone and Liberia. The evaluation focused on areas still struggling to achieve meaningful development in a post-conflict setting and was designed to assess the relationships between drivers o
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f development and community radio stations. The study found that community radios are significantly impacting development in their communities via relationships with local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The study included an analysis of current radio programming for its impact on local development processes, while an audience survey and focus groups were used to better understand audience perceptions and uses of local radio. Stations were also evaluated on their capacity as independent development agents with an eye towards ongoing peacebuilding functions. According to the report, the impact of community radios falls into two categories: support for programme implementation leading to improved efficacy, broader reach, accountability, and community feedback; and regular airing of education and awareness programming - yielding results in changing attitudes and behaviours. The study found that the community stations had a positive and engaged relationship with local government as well as civil society organisations. Overall, the study found that community radio plays a central role in disseminating information related to development and in improving development outcomes through partnerships at all levels.
The study found that sensitisation and awareness programmes were often cited as audiences' favourites, as was interactive, public forum programming. A majority of listeners credited community radio stations with improving basic living conditions and encouraging an attitude of community responsibility and pride. Audiences also expressed a desire for expanded broadcast times. Station leadership was found to be the single overriding factor determining a station's impact and effectiveness.
According to the report, the stations also positively contributed to peacebuilding in their communities. Listeners reported a high impact from programmes that address peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Community stations in all locations were also described as active participants in diffusing potential violent crises. It was found that radio helps marginalised people without access to other means of communications and was universally cited as vital in facilitating peaceful election processes.
The report concludes that community radio does play a strong role in local peacebuilding, and that radio stations' promotion of inclusive development processes has a broad impact in promoting sustainable peace. However, it also found that radio's impact is often reliant on the cooperation of government, and that community radio stations are making limited use of their power as media outlets to compel government participation in media." (https://www.comminit.com)
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"Citizens’ Voice and Accountability (CV&A) work has emerged as a priority in the international development agenda from the 1990s onwards. In their CV&A work, donors recognise the importance of context: it shapes relation to that context. However, context awareness has not proven sufficient to enab
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le donors to grapple with key challenges posed by the interaction between formal and informal institutions, the prevalence of the latter over the former in many instances, and underlying power relations and dynamics. Some examples of positive impact of CV&A interventions have emerged from the interventions analysed for this study. This is mostly at the level of positive citizen awareness, empowering certain marginalised groups, and encouraging state officials. However, within the sample analysed, such impact/effects have remained limited and isolated, and have so far proven difficult to scale up. A critical factor leading to the observed limited nature of results is related to the fact that donor expectations as to what such work can achieve are too high, and are based on misguided assumptions around the nature of voice and accountability, and the linkages between the two. There is a tension between the long-term processes of transforming state-society relations and donors’ needs/desires to produce quick results. Scaling up sustainability are also issues not currently sufficiently addressed within intervention design and implementation." (Executive summary, page v)
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"This report provides an assessment of U.S. international media development efforts, both public and private, and calls on future efforts to be more long-term, comprehensive, and need-driven. Recommending a more holistic assistance approach, the report looks at the international media development fi
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eld from a number of perspectives: funding, professional development, education, the legal-enabling environment, economic sustainability, media literacy, new media, and monitoring and evaluation. The report's recommendations include: establishing media development as its own sector of international assistance rather than only as a part of other development efforts as is the current trend; taking longer-term approaches to projects; engaging the local media community more in project designand implementation; improving journalists' professional skills and ethical standards; providing greater support to improve the legal-enabling environment; emphasizing media literacy; building stronger media management skills; integrating new technology; refining monitoring and evaluation methods; improving coordination among donors and implementers; integrating communication for development strategies in overall media assistance efforts." (CAMECO Update 5-2008)
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"This study reviews and analyses what has already been documented on the links between radio-based communication strategies and rural development outcomes, particularly with regards to smallholder farming and food security outcomes. The report explores best radio practices, including issues related
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to optimal formats, schedules, production qualities, and station management, based on 17 case studies from India, the Philippines, Tanzania, Mali, Malawi, Mozambique, Ghana, and South Africa. The key findings include: testimonials and jingles facilitate the best recall and comprehension of messages (Philippines); radio forums strengthen rural decision-making structures (Tanzania); radio programmes created by communities attract high listenership (Malawi); and farm radio is more effective when linked with new information and communication technologies (Ghana). The research also identified some knowledge gaps: the lack of evaluation as an integrated element in radio campaign planning; the need to conduct regular audience surveys; the limited use of non-participatory effectiveness studies and the limited scope of evaluations focusing on the impact of just one or two programmes." (CAMECO Update 5-2008)
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"This report investigates the impact media and ICTs can have on the lives of the poor, based on the experiences of nine donors and NGOs forming part of the "Building Communication Opportunities (BCO)" alliance. It suggests that radio will have the most influence on social and political change where
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it is widely accessible, trusted by listeners, and open to inclusive participation. ICTs can help make markets work for the poor, but the surrounding circumstances are highly influential in determining in how far they make a difference. Communication networks appear to be particularly effective in building communities of activists where they enable the pooling of resources and expertise and leverage wider influence on decision-makers. However, the report concludes that evidence of the impact of ICTs is still weak. More debate is needed about how ICTs are best deployed. This requires learning how people really use the tools, as well as a more effective assessment of past and current experiences." (CAMECO Update 1-2009)
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"There is very little undestanding of the role that communicartion processes play in the numerous starnds of post-conflict reconstruction, including peacebuilding, governance, and long-term development. This paper addressess this gap by distilling lessons learned from the media and communication str
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ategies of different donors. It takes as its primary case study the Office of Transition Initiatives at the U.S. Agency for International Development, which has long track record of media and communication work in post-conflict environments. In doing so, it seeks to present a new model for understanding and working with communication in post-conflict and fragile environments." (Foreword)
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"This report covers a research study of Dgroups which took place during September 2006-July 2007. Dgroups is a number of things at the same time: (1) it is a web-based technical platform which supports and provides for the creation and use of discrete e-mail based discussion lists and web workspaces
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that are used to support knowledge networking by people and institutions working in development; (2) it is also the plural name for these online networks, individually known as a dgroup; and (3) it is also a partnership of development organizations who share a commitment to collaboration in development and who are developing a common vision of the need for such a platform and such online groups.
The Dgroups platform currently supports 2,308 dgroups and 88,700 individual users (15 July, 2007), but there has not yet been an analysis of the development role of dgroups on a global scale. Many partners and members of the Dgroups Partnership continue to support the platform, not only because of the access to online knowledge networks with which it provides them, but also because of an intuitive understanding of the processes supported by dgroups.
The study examines whether and how dgroups: • facilitate the spread of information and knowledge among the actors (individual and institutional) working in the thematic areas of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); • facilitate learning processes (individual, social, and organizational learning) in the diverse institutions working in areas related to the MDGs; and • facilitate the bridging of the multitude of ‘knowledge divides’ in development between the North and South, and South-South; between different sorts of institutions (multilateral, bilateral, NGOs, universities, ministries) and professional groups (practitioners, researchers and policymakers); and in terms of language [...]
It has been concluded that dgroups facilitate information and knowledge sharing within the subject areas of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and that they also facilitate individual, social and organizational learning within these subject areas. Dgroups also play an important role in bridging the ‘knowledge divides’ between North and South, between different types of institutions, and between different professional groups, as well as crossing the
digital divide. An ability to bridge South-South divides and to forge links between different language groups has not been demonstrated.
In terms of development impact, Dgroups was found to represent a very cost-effective manner of hosting groups (an average of Euro 60.70 per dgroup per year) and most moderators felt that participation in dgroups was an ‘effective’ use of their time. Dgroups were also found to have had an organizational impact on the way many of the partner and member organizations work. It is argued that Dgroups provides a unique resource: there is nothing comparable within development that facilitates information and knowledge sharing on such a large scale. Finally, some recommendations are made for the future development of Dgroups." (Executive summary)
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"Does USAID’s democracy promotion program work? Although some prior studies have examined specific projects in individual countries, no prior effort has studied the question on a world-wide basis, and no prior study has encompassed the entire post Cold-War period. [...] In the first phase of that
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research, we found that the answer to that question was “yes.” That is, on average, in the period 1990-2003, USAID’s investments in democracy promotion produced significant increases in the national level of democracy as measured by Freedom House and Polity IV indicators. [...] The current report presents the results of the second phase of the project “Cross-National Research on USAID’s Democracy and Governance Programs.” [...] In the current effort, the data set is extended from 14 years to cover 15 years (1990-2004) and 165 countries, yielding 2,416 observations (country-years). [...] USAID civil society and media assistance have a significant positive impact directly on their respective sectors, and USAID human rights assistance has a significant negative impact on the human rights outcome." (Executive summary, page 2, page 5)
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"The main conclusion is that the cooperation project has been very relevant for Indonesia and for Swedish development cooperation with Indonesia. Despite being a small donor, the project is implemented in a strategic sector, both for Indonesia and with regard to Swedish development cooperation goals
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. It is an area where Sweden has a comparative advantage in the sense that Swedish radio (SR) is an established international partner in promotion of public service radio, a where a limited financial contribution can have a large impact. Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) will most likely be able to sustain have the capacity to carry on efforts made within the project following the implementation period. Secondly, the evaluation team has found that the fi rst phase essentially achieved the objective of “introducing public service broadcasting” in Indonesia. The support came timely, giving adequate support to the political and administrative circles in Indonesia that wanted to encourage public service radio. The management of RRI appreciated SR-MDO’s support to the extent that they requested a second phase focused on implementing Public Service Broadcasting (PSB) more broadly in RRI. In the second phase the project did contribute to the implementation of PSB in the 13 main radio stations, while interviews confirm that only in 3 out of the 13 stations PSB was fully implemented. Most of the activities were put into operation, some according to plan, others were delayed, but most outputs were eventually reached. The start of the project phase was delayed and at the same time the general election was held six months earlier than initially said, which put a lot of pressure on the project to speed up activities, such as the election training and the installation of the technical network, while other activities had to wait such as audience research and staff skills training. Comments from project management indicate that perhaps the scope of the second phase was too ambitious to achieve over such a short time, and that fewer components could have been more efficient." (Conclusions, page 24)
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"In 2002, the Embassy of Sweden (EoS) and the School of Law (SoL) entered into an agreement which resulted into the School of Law Book Project (SoLBP). The objectives of the Project included; improving the teaching environment by ensuring that basic materials for each course were available, revampin
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g research among the staff, contributing to staff retention and recruitment, and, improving the management and administrative capacity of the SoL. The Project that commenced in December of 2002 was intended to run for a year but was extended twice ending in March of 2006 [...] It was concluded that the Project did achieve its goal of strengthening the teaching and learning environment in the SoL at the University of Zambia (UNZA). Having increased the levels of research activities among the lecturers chosen as authors of the books published under the Project, the resultant books were of great use to the lecturers, tutors and students in the SoL as they were; readily available, affordable to the students, up-to-date and most importantly made reference to Zambian Statutes and Case Law. This was the opposite of the imported books that were hard to come by, expensive and made no reference to Zambian Statutes and Case Law. The UNZA benefitted from the SoLBP in that it re-established itself as not only a training institution but also as a research institution capable of producing its own textbooks. The UNZA rose above other training institutions offering legal training as the other institutions incorporated the books into their curricular. These institutions include: the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE), the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA), the Zambia Open University (ZOU) and the Cavendish University of Zambia (CUZ). The books have also found reference relevance among practising lawyers and Judges of the High Court of Zambia. However, the evaluation found that the project funds had been mismanaged, allegedly by the project staff and there was a court case brought against them by the SoL. This was attributed to the weak monitoring systems by the SoL in the third year of project implementation as the first two years have proved to have had these systems in place as indicated by proper funds management." (Executive summary)
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"The objective of this study is to assess HIV and AIDS Radio campaign messages in southern Africa and the impact they have on their target audiences. The countries involved in the study are Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The intention is to document the assessment and share detailed
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tips on how to carry out an effective HIV/AIDS Radio campaign, and to advise respective media users on the most effective way of presenting HIV and AIDS information on radio. The study has been conducted in such a way that it can capture the impact of HIV and AIDS radio campaign messages on people living with HIV and AIDS - the most affected - as well as the general population. This particular report however, pertains only to Zambia and shows how the radio as a source of information is being utilised for the dissemination of HIV and AIDS messages." (Purpose of study, page 1)
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