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Evaluation of UNESCO’s Work in the Thematic Area of Media and Information Literacy (MIL)

Paris: UNESCO (2020), 128 pp.

"Overall, this evaluation has shown that over the last biennia UNESCO has made significant achievements through its work in MIL and is holding the lead in this constantly evolving field that has gained increasing importance at the forefront of global and national agendas. It also revealed that MIL o ... more

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Internal Evaluation: Reporters Respond and Legal Defense Fund (2018-2019)

Amsterdam: Free Press Unlimited (2020), 65 pp.

"Generally, beneficiaries of Reporters Respond and the Legal Defense Fund are very satisfied with the support they received. They praise the speed with which they received support, the ease with which they could apply, and the lack of bureaucratic obstacles. Beneficiaries noted that as a result of t ... more

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Media Incubator for the Western Balkans Pilot Project: Evaluation Report

Ivana Kahrmann

Free Press Unlimited (2020), 67 pp.

"FPU’s implementation approach emphasizes the value of forming true partnerships with local implementers to co-develop project plans and build capacity. This approach led to FPU being perceived by its partners as a refreshingly different type of partner that takes a novel approach in its project i ... mplementation. By helping its partners to better understand their audiences and to identify common niches that outlets could fill, FPU motivated its local partners to embrace innovation and change even in such a short time frame. The Media Incubator’s focus on increasing media outlets interaction with their audiences and encouraging citizen engagement is unique and fills an important gap not addressed by the interventions of other donors and international and local NGOs in Serbia and Kosovo. As such, FPU should attempt to build on this pilot with a larger-scale project. The project was highly relevant from the needs’ perspective, even though each of the partners had different capacity levels, profiles and potential target audience sizes. Local partners also used a variety of platforms to communicate to their target groups, thus comprising a good testing sample for the MIWB pilot project through which a variety of lessons learned could be drawn. Once a framework was agreed and put into place with each partner, FPU encouraged partners to innovate and experiment as much as they deemed necessary throughout project implementation in order to best attain their intended project goals. However, there proved to be both strengths and weaknesses in employing this “flexible” project implementation approach, because not all partners perceived it in the same way. Some partners perceived this flexibility as freedom to significantly change project activities and target audiences which, ultimately, reduced the level of effectiveness and impact. There were clearly different levels of progress made by the different partners, with Local Press Association having made the most progress; Kosovo 2.0 having made more limited progress and Novi Sad School of Journalism making the least visible overall progress. There was also a significant difference in quality of performance and results delivered by partners which had external consultant throughout the project implementation process and the partners which did not. There were no negative project results registered, but some risks and unforeseen challenges (COVID-19 pandemic) negatively affected the overall anticipated achievements of MIWB project results. The partnerships formed with a media association and individual media outlets had larger target audiences and attained more visible and tangible results than the partnership that was made with an educational institution. The transformative impact on individual and organisational capacity became apparent through anecdotal evidence and information gathered through interviews for this evaluation." (Executive summary, pages 4-5) more

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External Evaluation of Mobile Phone Technology-Based Nutrition and Agriculture Advisory Services in Africa: Mobile Phones, Nutrition, and Health in Tanzania. Business Modelling Endline Report

Nigel Scott, Simon Batchelor, Jones. Tom

E-pact Consortium; Institute of Development Studies (IDS) (2020), 118 pp.

"mNutrition is a global initiative supported by FCDO, managed by GSMA, and implemented by in-country MNOs and third party providers to use mobile technology, that sought to improve the health and nutritional status of children and adults in the developing world. The potential to utilise mobile techn ... more

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The Impact of Mobile Cinema Events on Potential Migrants in Guinea: Impact Evaluation Report

Marie-Luce Bia-Zafinikamia, Jasper Tjaden, Horace Gninafon

Geneva: International Organization for Migration (IOM) (2020), 55 pp.

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Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists: Annual Report, 2019

Paris: UNESCO (2020), 163 pp.

"This progress report presents the main findings and achievements of a self-evaluation exercise conducted by the responsible UNESCO project officers at Headquarters and in the relevant Field Offices." (Page 3)

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Evaluation of the Regional Independent Media Support Programme: Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras, 2017–2019

Marko Lehto

Helsinki: Vikes Finnish Foundation for Media and Development (2020), 59 pp.

"Taking into account the actual situation in the region, the support that VIKES provides for independent journalism is more urgent than ever. Journalists in the region are facing unprecedented challenges, from declining revenues, a broken business model and a new form of censorship, threats to journ ... alists’ safety and misinformation campaigns. In these conditions, the work that VIKES has been doing in the region has been relevant and successful. It has promoted the right of civil society to information and the right of media to freedom of expression. Activities that were planned in the programme document on the defense of fundamental rights to exercise free speech and democracy were implemented, and positive results were achieved. All the partner organizations have strengthened the exercise of democracy through digital media and investigative journalism, promoting citizen participation in public policies and improving the open-access and right to information. Networking and cooperation between independent media, journalists and CSOs are more reliable than ever in the region, and a new concept of collaborative journalism was introduced with positive results. VIKES supported media and independent journalists in producing high-quality information and investigative stories, supporting them to attract wider audiences. Training in business development, marketing and effective management was organised by the programme, and the financial sustainability of partners was improved. Even so, the independent media in the region is still dependent on external funding and will be, until the political situation in the region will improve. To be more effective and to improve the effectiveness of the Regional Independent Media Support Programme in the future, VIKES should increase the number of the partners and independent media representatives (also those currently exiled) to receive support from the programme. The main problem of independent public media remains the lack of financing and security. In a meeting with independent journalists in Nicaragua, where the government has threatened to continue to imprison journalists and publicly insults media professionals, they underlined the importance of solidarity networks among international organizations and press associations. According to them, VIKES has done bold work, and its efforts have supported the professionals who remain to practice “survival journalism” and need all the backing to continue to inform the population." (Executive summary, page 7-8) more

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Central Project Evaluation: Further Education and Training for Media Professionals in Africa – DW Akademie, Kenya and Rwanda. Evaluation Report

Stefan Silvestrini, Furaha Hakizimana

Bonn; Eschborn: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) (2020), 56 pp.

"The factors that led to the overall unsatisfactory assessment of the project can be summarised as follows: • The project was not anchored in any overarching reference framework. Accordingly, neither its contributions to the strategic objectives of the German development cooperation nor to any oth ... more

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Process Tracing as a Practical Evaluation Method: Comparative Learning from Six Evaluations

Alix Wadeson, Bernardo Monzani, Tom Aston

[authors] (2020), 31 pp.

"This paper presents comparative learning from the evaluation of six international development initiatives that applied various forms of Process Tracing. While these initiatives span across diverse contexts and pursued different aims, they are connected by a common thread: all six case studies centr ... more

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Countering Violent Extremism in Nigeria: Using a Text-Message Survey to Assess Radio Programs

James V. Marrone, Todd C. Helmus, Elizabeth Bodine-Baron, Christopher Santucci

RAND Corporation (2020), 32 pp.

"Using a randomized encouragement design, we assigned 2,064 people to listen to either 'Ina Mafita' or to a control program (professional soccer matches) each week over the course of two months. Recruitment and engagement were conducted remotely via short message service (short message system [SMS] ... more

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Assessing the Effectiveness of Online Facebook Campaigns Targeting Potential Irregular Migrants: A Pilot Study in Three West African Countries

Esther Haarman, Jasper Tjaden, Gustavo López

Geneva: International Organization for Migration (IOM) (2020), 41 pp.

"Studies have shown that many irregular migrants embark on journeys without accurate or complete information about migration. In response, IOM and other organizations run information campaigns intended to inform potential migrants of the dangers associated with irregular migration and to facilitate ... informed decisions. The use of online and social media platforms for these campaigns has become increasingly popular in recent years, due to their potential for quickly reaching millions of people at low cost. While the evidence base for offline information campaigns has been gradually improving, it remains unclear how online communication campaigns affect potential migrants, and methodologies to do this remain underdeveloped. This report therefore presents results from a pilot impact assessment of an online campaign based on Facebook posts in Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal during September 2019 and February 2020 [.] Conclusion: Facebook ad campaigns can reach many people quickly. However, large audience sizes and relatively cheap costs come with a trade-off. The impact of an information campaign on potential migrants’ perceptions, attitudes, knowledge and behaviour remains largely unknown because many Facebook users that engage with the campaign do not fit the intended target group. The advantage of offline over online campaigns is that implementers have more control and information about who attends activities or who is exposed to campaign content. The engagement of users with campaign posts varies largely by audience and post characteristics. Campaign and social media teams are well advised to conduct pilot tests before scaling up activities. Pilot tests can inform a customized approach for each online activity on Facebook, and thereby maximize impact. In addition to A/B tests, lift tests may offer a useful opportunity to test the impact of Facebook posts. Compared to impact assessments of offline information campaigns, measuring the impact of Facebook ads on potential migrants presents several unique challenges, including: Many potential migrants are not on Facebook or do not use ad content to seek information about migration. Internet connectivity is also limited in many West African countries. While Facebook allows users to narrow down target groups, it is not clear whether those Facebook users that are exposed to the content fit the profile of potential migrants. Whether the intended target group is reached can be affirmed only through surveys, which have a low response rate; It is not possible to interview the same Facebook users several times to track changes in their perceptions. Engagement metrics like post reactions, link clicks or video plays can be useful indicators. However, these low-engagement metrics do not offer clear evidence of the short- or long-term effects on Facebook users." (Executive summary) more

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Meta-Review of Evaluations of Development Assistance to Afghanistan, 2008-2018

Christoph Zürcher

Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) (2020), 39 pp.

"Overall, one finding stands out: the international community has repeatedly overestimated its own capacity and the capacity of its Afghan partners to bring about rapid social change. What has worked best are modest, locally embedded projects with immediate, tangible benefits. What has rarely worked ... are complex projects aimed at building capacity and changing behaviour. More specifically, interventions in basic health and education, and in improving basic livelihoods, led to results. Interventions in building capacity for the administration, or in sectors such as the rule of law or gender, rarely worked. In reading these 148 reports, one also realizes that the international aid community is often not good at learning. Monitoring and evaluation systems are weak, and have hardly improved since 2002. Back in the early 2000s, many donors pointed out that, in order to achieve meaningful and sustainable development, more time was necessary. Fifteen years later, few sustainable results have been achieved, but many donors continue to suggest that better results will still require more time. Few donors appear to have changed their fundamental strategic approach, despite the fact that their own evaluations strongly suggest that many aid programs are neither e cient nor e ective in the Afghan context. In all fairness, the Afghan context is an incredibly challenging one, as these 148 reports vividly remind us on almost every page. The situation on the ground was and still is characterized by a lack of basic security; Afghan partners in government and in civil society lack basic capacities; many entrenched political actors have little interest in real reforms. Despite these challenging conditions, there was since the early days of the international engagement in Afghanistan tremendous political pressure on development actors to rush in and to provide quick results. An additional layer of complexity was added by the fact that the international engagement was from the beginning both a civilian and a military intervention, and planners in headquarters as well as practitioners on the ground had to learn how to cope with the task of civil-military cooperation. Under such circumstances, designing e ective aid programs is a herculean task." (Introduction, page 8) more

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Summary Report: Justice4her 2.0. Strengthening Rule of Law to Reduce Gender-Based Violence

Hilversum: RNW Media (2020), 7 pp.

"Justice4Her is a cross-sector, multi-stakeholder project of RNW Media and Qianqian Law Firm that seeks to strengthen the rule of law and reduce gender-based violence (GBV) towards women migrant workers in China. The project launched in 2016 and targets women migrant workers in Beijing, Shanghai and ... more

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Synthesis of Evaluations in South Sudan: Lessons Learned for Engagement in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States

Logan Cochrane

Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, volume 2, issue 1 (2020), pp. 21-34

"South Sudan is one the largest recipients of official development assistance. Given the complexity of the operational environment, there is a need to learn from the lessons gained to-date. This article seeks to enable better-informed decision making based on a synthesis from humanitarian and develo ... more

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Heartlines “What’s Your Story?”: Summative Evaluation

Singizi Consulting Africa (2020), 45 pp.

"In the formative evaluation, church data from the retrospective baseline showed that after being exposed to the “What’s Your Story?” methodology by Heartlines, 42% of respondents had engaged in further intentional storytelling with others. In comparison to this, in the summative evaluation, a ... more

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Combatting Digital Disinformation: An Evaluation of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's Disinformation Strategy

Amy O’Hara, Jodi Nelson

Hewlett Foundation (2020), 29 pp.

"The Hewlett Foundation’s decision to add a focus on disinformation to its 2017 US Democracy strategy was motivated by a desire to figure out how best to encourage social media platforms to reduce polarization exacerbated by disinformation.1 The foundation invested in two major efforts to support ... this ambition: a multi-funder partnership with Facebook to create data access for independent researchers to study the impact of social media on democracy and elections; and a grant making portfolio conceived to build an academic field to deepen the understanding of disinformation and identify policy solutions that mitigate its spread and impact on society . We found compelling the suggestion that disinformation is better considered a topic than a coherent field, and that multi-disciplinarity brings richness in framing, methods, and applications. Among Hewlett grantees, scholars self-identify as members of different fields that carry with them important epistemological and philosophical differences. We found evidence that there are perceived gaps between researchers, platforms, journalists, policy makers, civil society and others that obstruct the development of policy solutions. The missing competency among many academics to translate research findings for use, and of the need for tighter connections between scholars and decision makers were additional insights we gained about important gaps in the current landscape. During the two-year grantmaking period, the disinformation portfolio invested in varied policy and academic institutions and supported a diverse group of principal investigators. This is in contrast to the perceptions we heard about the foundation’s lack of a diverse grantee portfolio and approach. We learned from key informants and secondary research that there is an inextricable link between disinformation, racial and social equity and justice. A stronger communication strategy about the foundation team’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is warranted, as is a deliberate effort to showcase the work of all their grantees and their distinct perspectives. The foundation’s significant role in creating momentum for this body of work was widely noted, as was the need for continued leadership and support." (Executive summary, page 2-3) more

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Consolidated Report for Assessment of Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI) for the Year 2019

Islamabad: UNICEF (2020), 64 pp.

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Using Drama to Encourage Non-Violent Conflict Resolution in South Sudan

London: BBC Media Action (2020), 2 pp.

"Mixed methods research found that including entertaining and relatable characters and storylines in the Life in Lulu radio drama engaged listeners and helped them to apply lessons from the programme to resolve conflicts peacefully in their own households and communities." (Page 1)

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Analysing Participatory Video Through the Capability Approach: A Case Study in Quart De Poblet (Valencia, Spain)

Alejandra Boni, Aurora López-Fogués, Gynna Millán, Sergio Belda-Miquel

Action Research, volume 18, issue 3 (2020), pp. 282-301

"The aim of this paper is to analyse participatory video as a participatory action research method through the lenses of the capability approach. In order to do this, we used a participatory video experience that took place in the municipality of Quart de Poblet (Valencia, Spain) from February to Ma ... more

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Transactional Radio Instruction: Improving Educational Outcomes for Children in Conflict Zones

Jacob Udo-Udo Jacob, Margee Ensign

Cham: Palgrave Macmillan (2020), xxvi, 219 pp.

"This book demonstrates how the authors used radio and mobile technologies to improve educational outcomes for over 20,000 displaced and out-of-school children in northeast Nigeria at the height of the Boko Haram insurgency. Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) programs typically interact with a func ... more