"This study aims to investigate media intervention in the extractive sector, like media training for journalists, and investigative reporting in the sector, to improve innovations designed to drive transparency and accountability. It also aims to understand the experiences of journalists and media o
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rganisations in the overall mission to ensure a more transparent extractive sector. The research employed a combination of methods - key informant interviews with 10 media organisations and CSO stakeholders, an online survey for journalists, and focus group discussions with newsroom managers selected from the media institutions identified by respondents to the survey. Findings revealed that Nigerian journalists had attended media training in the extractive sector, and this training has impacted their delivery and reportage, improved wide-range and sophisticated viewpoints that can direct their reporting methods and choices. Their capacity is built in utilising critical thinking to assess news sources, information, and the motivations of individuals and advancement in journalism. Journalists and media organisations continue to demand more collaborative and action-oriented processes to advance their reportage and generate more impactful stories, especially in the extractive sector." (Executive summary)
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"This meta-synthesis collates evaluation insights and evidence on the advocacy and communications efforts related to the key results areas of UN Women’s Strategic Plan: Governance and Participation in Public Life; Women’s Economic Empowerment; Ending Violence Against Women; and Women, Peace and
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Security, Humanitarian Action and Disaster Risk Reduction. Based on available
evaluation evidence, the report outlines key results, trends,
enabling factors, impediments and lessons learned with a
geographic and thematic focus." (Page vi)
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"The Talking about Poverty (TaP) project, which ran from 2016 to 2021, aimed to develop a more effective way of communicating about UK poverty through ‘framing’ – an evidence-based communications strategy. For this project, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) worked with the FrameWorks Instit
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ute, which is a not-for-profit communications research organisation based in the United States. In 2021, a sister organisation, FrameWorks UK, was established in the United Kingdom (UK), which focuses on supporting mission-driven organisations to apply strategic communications research in practice. The TaP project set out to understand the public’s attitudes to poverty in the UK and used insight from research with 20,000 people (Volmert et al, 2016) to develop ways to talk about poverty in a more effective way. To challenge the unhelpful narratives identified in the research, the project developed an evidence-based communications strategy (‘poverty framing’) to increase the public’s understanding of UK poverty and provide support for measures to address it.
[...] There are some key development areas for future framing projects such as stronger project planning and management, monitoring and evaluation, and sustainability planning. However, the TaP project made PWLE who were engaged in the project feel more hopeful about the future and confident that the project would have a positive, accumulative effect on how poverty is being talked about in public discourse, with some indications that the project may have had some influence in the media and the House of Commons. The TaP project created a buzz in the third sector and was credited with helping to build a movement, leading to a more co-ordinated sector. While we identified a need and desire to engage the third sector and PWLE earlier on in the project, the vast majority of third sector partners and allies who were engaged in our evaluation both valued and used the framing in their work, crediting the framing with adding more dignity, positivity and effectiveness to their communications. The TaP project brought hundreds of organisations together for the Keep the Lifeline campaign and provided a robust and evidence-based communications strategy for their internal staff and external allies." (Executive summary, pages 3-6)
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"From September 2020 to January 2021, 253 trainers delivered the FactShala training program to 23,347 adults in communities across India. The FactShala media literacy training program launched by Internews […], is an effective mechanism for spreading media and information literacy and building res
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ilience to misinformation within communities experiencing exponential growth in access to and use of the internet. Internews commissioned the Centre for Media Studies to conduct a comprehensive impact evaluation of the FactShala training in July and August 2021. This report outlines the findings of that study. The key objectives of this study are to: 1. Assess how far FactShala improved trainees' awareness of and ability to identify online misinformation and disinformation; 2. Determine how far FactShala motivated trainees to share this knowledge with others; 3. Capture best practices in curbing misinformation and disinformation at the individual, organizational or community level; 4. Provide insights to help design or improve future training modules, curricula and capacity-building sessions." (Executive Summary, page 11-12)
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"Cest la Vie!" (CLV) is a serial drama that entertains, educates, and promotes positive health behaviors and social change for West African audiences. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if watching the CLV Season 2 series online had an impact on people’s health knowledge, attitudes, and nor
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ms, focusing on populations in francophone West Africa. Between July 2019 and October 2019, viewers of CLV and non-viewers were recruited from Facebook and YouTube. We conducted an online longitudinal cohort study that assessed changes in health knowledge, attitudes, and norms (KAN) between these groups. Participants completed a baseline survey prior to the online airing and up to three follow-up surveys corresponding to specific health stories in the series, including sexual violence, emergency contraception, and female circumcision. We used descriptive statistics to describe viewers and non-viewers, and an item response theory (IRT) analysis to identify the effect of viewing CLV on overall KAN. A total of 1674 respondents participated in the study. One in four participants had seen one of the three storylines from CLV Season 2 (ie, CLV viewers). At follow-up, viewers were more likely than non-viewers to know when to correctly use emergency contraception and to believe that the practice of female circumcision should end. Compared to people who did not see CLV, viewers of the series had 26% greater odds of answering pro-health responses at follow-up about sexual assault, emergency contraception, and female circumcision. Further, the level of engagement with specific storylines was associated with a differential impact on overall outcome questions." (Abstract)
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"This paper examines the extent to which an edutainment programme, MTV-Shuga, was reported to influence young people’s engagement with sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In 2019 we conducted eight community-based screenings of MTV-Shuga episodes
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followed by 25 individual indepth interviews and 13 focus group discussions with young people aged between 15 and 30. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis was thematic and complemented by constant comparison and deviant case analysis techniques. In this rural and poor setting with a high burden of HIV, young people exhibited high levels of awareness of SRH and HIV but had constrained access to services, and limited ability to engage with parents or guardians on SRH matters. MTV Shuga provided an entertaining guide of ways to navigate the risks that they faced in a way that resonated with them. The findings highlight the importance of enabling young people in rural areas to watch MTV Shuga with peers in a safe space in which discussion of the content is facilitated. There is also value in encouraging parents to watch MTV Shuga as a means of enabling discussions between children and adults in their lives about SRH matters." (Abstract)
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"Reducing stigma is key to improving the wellbeing of people with albinism in Tanzania. This study aimed to obtain more insight into the effects of two radio interventions with regard to albinism-related stigma: a radio drama and a radio interview. Assessment of the radio interventions was based on
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two attitude measurement instruments (The Albinism Explanatory Model Interview Catalogue Community Stigma Scale and the Albinism Social Distance Scale), an entertainment scale, and two informal (group) interviews. In total, 111 community members participated in the assessment prior to the radio drama, and 65 after. In the case of the radio interview, 123 community members participated in the assessment prior to the radio show, and 77 after. Following the radio drama, a significant reduction was found in terms of community stigma, and a reduction in social distance was found after both interventions. The entertainment score for both interventions was high, but significantly higher for the radio drama. The respondents indicated that they had gained more understanding of albinism as a result of the interventions, and were positive about this type of education. The current study shows that a radio show in which the listener interacts with someone with albinism can contribute to a reduction in stigma, and demonstrates that different types of radio intervention can have different outcomes." (Abstract)
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"Since it first began substantial implementation in 2018, the MDP has enabled UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector to immediately respond to emerging priorities and needs affecting freedom of expression, the safety of journalists, access to information, and community media. Before its cre
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ation, UNESCO Officers in the field were limited to regular programme funds, and few extrabudgetary projects limited in time and scope, therefore, at times, were unable to provide the urgent support requested by local stakeholders or respond to any emerging need. Through its inherent flexibility, the MDP has over the past four years been able to provide core funding for initiatives, or co-fund projects, as well as maintain momentum when field offices experienced delays in receiving funds between two extrabudgetary projects. It has also enabled UNESCO to immediately respond to urgent needs and not miss windows of opportunity. During the reporting period, this flexibility has allowed the MDP to respond to crises as they appeared, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port explosions, the 2021 crisis in Gaza, or political events in Afghanistan and Myanmar. The MDP’s response to emergencies has been critical and, maintaining this approach, it will continue to respond to urgent needs in countries such as Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Ukraine in the coming biennium." (Summary, page 6)
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"This systematic review examines the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of community engagement interventions on outcomes related to childhood immunisation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and identifies contextual, design and implementation features that may be associated with effectiv
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eness. We identified 61 quantitative and mixed methods impact evaluations and 47 associated qualitative studies related to community engagement interventions for inclusion in the review. For cost-effectiveness analysis 14 of the 61 studies had the needed combination of cost and effectiveness data. The 61 included impact evaluations were concentrated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa and spread across 19 LMICs. The review found that community engagement interventions had a small but significant, positive effect on all primary immunisation outcomes related to coverage and their timeliness. The findings are robust to exclusion of studies assessed as high risk of bias. Qualitative evidence indicates appropriate intervention design, including building in community engagement features; addressing common contextual barriers of immunisation and leveraging facilitators; and accounting for existing implementation constraints and practicalities on the ground are consistently cited as reasons for intervention success." (Abstract)
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"Online misinformation continues to have adverse consequences for society. Inoculation theory has been put forward as a way to reduce susceptibility to misinformation by informing people about how they might be misinformed, but its scalability has been elusive both at a theoretical level and a pract
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ical level. We developed five short videos that inoculate people against manipulation techniques commonly used in misinformation: emotionally manipulative language, incoherence, false dichotomies, scapegoating, and ad hominem attacks. In seven preregistered studies, i.e., six randomized controlled studies (n = 6464) and an ecologically valid field study on YouTube (n = 22,632), we find that these videos improve manipulation technique recognition, boost confidence in spotting these techniques, increase people’s ability to discern trustworthy from untrustworthy content, and improve the quality of their sharing decisions. These effects are robust across the political spectrum and a wide variety of covariates. We show that psychological inoculation campaigns on social media are effective at improving misinformation resilience at scale." (Abstract)
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"The current systematic review identified seven overall findings with distinct programmatic and research implications for capacity strengthening (CS) in social and behavior change communication (SBCC). First, there is a scarcity of literature about specific evaluation of CS for SBCC. Although CS has
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become a ‘buzz word’ in international development (Hawe et al., 2000), published evaluations of CS activities that aim to build SBCC capacity in LMICs are rare. Only 19 publications met the study’s eligibility criteria, and only three focused solely on CS findings. This review’s findings complement previous literature which has noted that evaluation of CS efforts for SBCC is rare (Lettenmaier et al., 2014). Future evaluations should publish their findings more widely in order to share lessons learned with others interested in implementing CS activities in SBCC and generate further knowledge about what works and what does not work. Second, the review found that among publications that described evaluation findings of CS for SBCC, most did not emphasize the assessment of CS activities. The details of how CS activities were evaluated was often lost in description of large multi-arm interventions that were not focused on SBCC or CS [...] Third, the current systematic review found that evaluation assessments of CS for SBCC generally employ non-experimental designs. Of the reviewed publications, only one described an experimental design [...] Fourth, in terms of the SBCC Capacity Ecosystem, while evaluations commonly addressed organization-level capacity and individual-level competencies, they rarely addressed system-level capacity [...] Fifth, publications highlighted several challenges regarding assessing sustainability of CS activities. Although CS is key to ensuring sustainable gains in development, most publications did not explicitly assess sustainability [...] Sixth, authors identified the shortcomings in terms of quality, both in terms of the writing as well as providing sufficient detail and documentation to support claims. Problems of clarity in the writing, particularly in gray literature, made it difficult to understand what kind of CS activities were most effective at strengthening capacity for SBCC [...] Finally, publications did not consistently support all of their recommendations and conclusions with evaluation findings." (Discussion, page 13-14)
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"Adolescents in Mexico experience high pregnancy and birth rates. A collaboration with Grupo Televisa led to the development of an entertainment-education telenovela intervention, Overcome the Fear (OTF), which aired in 2020 to a national audience and addressed adolescent sexual and reproductive hea
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lth (SRH) topics. This study details the development and evaluation of OTF’s impact on adolescent contraceptive practices and parent-adolescent SRH communication in Mexico" [...] Conclusions: This study suggests that viewership of a high-quality entertainment-education telenovela informed by extensive formative research is related to adolescent health outcomes and to parent-adolescent SRH communication on a country-wide scale in Mexico. Entertainment-education remains an underutilized public health strategy, despite its promise to engage viewers and motivate healthful behaviors." (Abstract)
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"The purpose of this Learning Brief is to share key lessons to inform future efforts to effect systems-level change in humanitarian response, seeking to create positive transformational change. Given that transformation is an unfolding, open-ended process, we acknowledge that our learning is an ongo
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ing journey. Our key lessons derive from the systems impact assessment of the Renewable Energy for Refugees (RE4R) project, supported by the IKEA Foundation and implemented in a partnership between Practical Action and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency between April 2017 and February 2022. RE4R sought to reshape global humanitarian response to adopt (and adapt) market-based renewable energy (RE) models demonstrated in three refugee camps and host communities in Rwanda and the city of Irbid in Jordan. In addition to providing sustainable, efficient, affordable, and reliable RE solutions for refugees, host communities, and institutions in humanitarian settings, the market-based RE approaches piloted by RE4R sought to provide long-term economic improvement for target populations." (Introduction)
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"What comes next for media development? Though the contributors to this volume [i.e., the special issue focusing on international media development] provide answers from diverse perspectives, they each touch upon questions of agency and localization. The contributors investigate major issues with a
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bearing on media development literature in a bid to explore some conceptual frameworks and lay down a path for an action-oriented practice." (Page 137)
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"This midterm performance evaluation of the United States Agency for International Development’s Assistance to Citizens in Fight Against Corruption Activity (ACFC) and Investigative Journalism Program (IJP) examines the outcomes the activities achieved during the first two and a half years of impl
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ementation. Both activities started in September 2019 and will end in September 2024. The evaluation concluded that the two activities increased citizens’ awareness about and confidence in anticorruption activities of civil society in directly targeted municipalities, and awareness about media anticorruption reporting at a national level. More success stories and a centralized effort to promote results and messaging should follow, and all supported media requires an improved approach to audience engagements. Despite stagnation at the national level, citizens’ engagement in anticorruption increased significantly in affected municipalities, especially through locally based informal groups and CSO initiatives, as well as through well-tailored initiatives for monitoring abuse of public resources in pre-election campaigns and public procurement during the pandemic. The lack of coordination between direct beneficiaries, and with external stakeholders, partially caused by the pandemic, made anticorruption efforts fragmented and less sustainable. The pandemic and political stalemates negatively affected the high-level advocacy initiatives with modest results only in the areas of conflict of interest and public procurement, while the ACFC grantees had some results in their advocacy initiatives. The two activities were effective in getting institutions to process corruption reports and in stopping illegal activities in some of the institutions. Investigative journalism reports resulted in several high-profile corruption cases. Even though judicial effectiveness is improving, citizens’ distrust in judicial and other institutions still hampers gains in reporting corruption." (Abstract)
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"Thanks to an inclusive and context-sensitive selection process of youth journalists and relevant and participatory capacity-building sessions, the project successfully empowered hard to reach youth by providing them with a range of transferable skills that they have been able to use both within and
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beyond the project. The young journalists were able to produce quality radio programming which was very positively received by the communities, as 90 percent of surveyed community members found that the radio programs produced by the young journalists as part of the project bring an added value on critical social and political issues. This is a significant improvement from the baseline (35,7 percent in South Sudan, 16,7 percent in CAR and 76,2 percent in Mali), thus indicating the program’s success in changing perceptions regarding the value of youth’s perspectives. Nonetheless, both the audience and project staff identified avenues for improving the reach of the radio programs, including exploring other media, and increasing communication around the program and broadcast times. Beyond enabling youth journalists to produce high-quality radio programs, the project also benefits them by fostering motivation, entrepreneurialism, agency and success as the evaluation found evidence of youth journalists creating their own initiatives, and acting as mediators in conflicts between friends or in their family. In addition, amongst youth from the community who participated in project activities, the project led to increased awareness of their role and capacities as change agents." (Key findings, page 6)
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