"The evaluation found that IPDC interventions have achieved important outcomes in several key areas. Furthermore, some of the results achieved are directly associated with features that are specific to IPDC and derive from its unique governance structures and instruments. In terms of key challenges,
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the evaluation recommends the development of an IPDC Strategic Framework to clarify and strengthen its overall strategic positioning." (Summary)
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"Since 2013, BBC Media Action has been working closely with Unicef to support polio eradication. Through mass media programming – radio magazine shows and drama, and radio and TV public service announcements (PSAs) – it has sought to break down barriers to immunising against polio and other chil
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dhood vaccines among vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Somalia to increase demand for and uptake of them. This briefing synthesises findings from research conducted in the three countries – Afghanistan, Nigeria and Somalia - with a focus on Afghanistan. Research findings suggested that BBC Media Action’s programming provided listeners with accurate, trusted and clear information against misinformation and harmful rumours, increased knowledge on the requirement of multiple doses of vaccines and vaccination schedules, prompted discussion and dialogue in communities, garnered trust and confidence among caregivers through the use of doctors and religious leaders and encouraged parents to vaccinate their children by dispelling misconceptions about vaccinations." (https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaaction)
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"In a highly competitive media landscape, BBC Media Action’s governance programmes reached 52.8 million people in 2014 (and an estimated 64.6 million cumulatively), representing more than half the adult population of the country. One reason for this success was the brokering of radio partnerships
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that ensured distribution of radio content across the country. In contrast to other countries that held elections during the course of the Global Grant project, the Nigerian programmes managed to sustain their high level of audience engagement after the elections. This was achieved by: adapting the content to topical issues; transitioning from focusing on encouraging peaceful elections to holding elected officials to account; and encouraging officials to follow up on their electoral promises. Across the five years, the project managed to increase the percentage of rural and female listeners. The Hausa outputs (Mu Tattauna and Gatanan Gatanan Ku) were particularly effective at reaching these groups in northern Nigeria. The debate and discussion programmes were successful at enabling people to question officials directly and audiences appreciated hearing a diverse range of views and opinions. This speaks directly to the project’s objective of encouraging dialogue and understanding of diverse points of view. The dramas were effective at role modelling how people could resolve conflicts, question officials and participate in civic life. By showcasing scenarios people could relate to, their storylines helped ordinary people and leaders understand their rights and responsibilities and how democratic processes work. Those exposed to these factual and drama outputs knew more, discussed more and participated more in politics even when controlling for other factors that may influence these outcomes (such as age, income, education and interest in politics). Despite Nigerians remaining cynical about the willingness and ability of politicians to respond to their needs, the programmes were particularly effective at encouraging people who had not participated in public life before to do so." (Key findings from the research)
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"Overall, the program set out what it achieved to do—namely to strengthen the institutional capacity of civil society organizations to improve their credibility, visibility, effectiveness and sustainability. There is evidence that many partner CSOshave refined theirmission, developed a multi-year
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strategic plan, a communications plan, a gender policy and an HR policy. In addition, they are beginning to integrate new financial reporting and M&E structures. All of the partner CSOs have improved their sustainability byreceiving additional funds to continue their work, and many of them hav developed strategies to diversify their revenue generation, such as expanding their offices to rent out board rooms. A number of organizations are eager to pass their new knowledge onto others, with many training peer CSOs on what they learned through the Search program. Finally, the program was effective in improving their own confidence, with all of the partner CSOs expressing their appreciation of the program, and in particular the freedom they had to define their own priorities and objectives.A number of lessons emerged during the course of implementation that are relevant for Search’s future work in civil society strengthening, as well as for other organizations working in this sector: 1. The participatory benchmarking approach is useful to help organizations track improvments in their organziational capacity over time. However, there was a tendency for CSOs to overstate what was possible within a limited timeframe. As a result, benchmarks were not consistently met, and many of the capacity-related development were not fully institutionalized by the project end. 2. The integration of radio programs with other civil society organizing approaches—town hall meetings, workshops, and house to house outreach—is an effective way to improve awareness and engagement of citizens in governance reform issues on a mass scale. 3. Programs to improve the capacity and sustainability of CSOs, and to professionalize the sector, are crucial but often overlooked, in efforts to improve local governance in fragile and trasitional countries such as Liberia. 4. There is a need to continue efforts to link civil society actors together for cohesive action and to further improve the enabling environment for civil society in Liberia by providing opportunities for CSOs to develop strategic collaborations, improve organizational capacity development, and attract donor funds to support their work." (Conclusions)
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"The present report provides the findings of a combined baseline evaluation of “‘I Love My Country:’ Promoting Localized Understanding and Peaceful Coexistence in South Sudan” (PLUPC) funded by the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program (PSOPS) of the Canadian government, and endline eva
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luation of the project, “‘I Love My Country’: Strategic Communications for Peace Building in South Sudan” (SCPB) funded by the European Union (EU). The goal of the “‘I Love My Country:’ Promoting Localized Understanding and Peaceful Coexistence in South Sudan” project is to build greater understanding and application of key concepts embodied within the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) through key stakeholder meetings, participatory theater performances, civil society engagement, small-scale peace initiatives, short media productions, and radio drama production and broadcast. The project began on December 15, 2016 is expected to end on June 15, 2018. The purpose of the “‘I Love My Country’: Strategic Communications for Peace Building in South Sudan” project is “to promote social cohesion, resilience, and the peaceful resolution of conflicts among individuals and communities in South Sudan” by strengthening national platforms for diverse and constructive and promoting peace, tolerance, and reconciliation with key groups and individuals. Search for Common Ground, iHub, UNESCO, and Catholic Radio Network launched the project in November 1, 2014 and it was concluded on March 1, 2017. The objectives of the baseline evaluation for PLUPC are to update the analysis of local conflict dynamics in the targeted zones for outreach activities, collect baseline data for project indicators, to reflect upon the Objectives and Theory of Change (TOC) of the project, and to evaluate potential risks to project participants, implementing staff, and partners. The final evaluation for SCPB seeks to measure changes in key indicators after the implementation of activities, evaluate the project using OECD-DAC criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability), and provide lessons learned and recommendations to inform future peace building activities in the country." (Executive summary)
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"The United States Agency for International Development/Burma launched the Civil Society and Media (CSM) Activity in 2014 to improve engagement between the public and the Government of Burma by supporting local civil society and media organizations. This mixed-methods, mid-term performance evaluatio
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n focused on the CSM Activity’s programmatic effectiveness and contributions to democratic processes as well as how it affected inclusivity of vulnerable groups. Overall, the CSM Activity worked effectively to influence laws, policies, processes, practices, and services affecting the people of Burma. While some civil society grantees offered recommendations to the government about laws and policies on a national scale, others contributed to action on the local level. All media grantees produced content to raise awareness about priorities of public interest. Some contributed to action by State/Region and local governments, but government entities do not openly recognize media as influencing their decisions and actions. The Activity increased the quantity of content produced by media grantees, particularly in periphery areas, and it had some success in increasing exchange of information between urban and rural areas; however, most examples are not related to Union-level democratic reform issues. The Activity’s influence on an improved media enabling environment has been limited, given the restrictive operating environment and constriction in Burma’s press freedoms." (Abstract)
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"UNICEF and the Government of Montenegro implemented a communication strategy "It's about ability" to challenge the existing, exclusionary practices and promote new, inclusive social norms for children with disability. Drawing on communication for development principles and social norms theory, a 20
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10-2013 nation-wide campaign mobilized disability rights NGOs, parents associations, media and private sector to stimulate inclusive attitudes and practices towards children with disabilities. As a result, the percentage of citizens who find it acceptable for a child with disability to attend the same class with theirs increased from 35 before the campaign to 80 percent at the end of it. Similarly, the percentage of Montenegrin citizens who find it acceptable for a child with disability to be the best friend of their child increased from 22 before the campaign to 51 percent at the end of it. The campaign was participatory, audience-centred and guided by the key communication planning principles." (Abstract)
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"This publication is the first scoping study aimed at compiling existing evaluation cases in the field of Communication for Development as applied to agricultural and rural development initiatives. It draws on a literature review and 19 cases across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribb
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ean comparing evidence of evaluative approaches, methods and outcomes of communication programmes and rural communication services. It also provides clear indications about the need to build evidence that inform policy to advance inclusive rural communication services." (Back cover)
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"The impact assessment comprised a survey, focus-group discussions and key informant interviews as its sources of data. The survey covered 194 members of the Peace Radio listener clubs, in which members discuss the Peace Radio contents and initiate peace initiatives on the basis of a standardised qu
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estionnaire of open and closed questions [...] The impact assessment came to the following conclusions: The Peace Radio approach, using broadcasts in combination with listener club meetings, has the potential to reach a broad audience effectively. It was generally found to be well appreciated and considered relevant by its target communities. The diversity of media formats used in the Peace Radio make the programme attractive and unique, as different media formats correlate with different listeners’ preferences. The very high attendance of listener club meetings indicates its high level of attractiveness. Listener clubs are appropriate forums where people from different (ethnic) groups – even from conflicting parties – come together and discuss issues in a constructive and peaceful manner. The clubs are an essential part of the Peace Radio Programme. The programme equips listener club members with basic peace-building skills, with members feeling able to apply them. Changes in attitude are very difficult to achieve. Increasing tolerance and respect towards other groups and communities usually takes years, if not decades, to achieve. As the findings of the impact assessment indicate, the Peace Radio approach was able to achieve measurable change in attitudes in a short time period of 2-5 years. Prejudices and stereotypes which had previously served as a breeding ground for conflicts were significantly reduced through the broadcasts but also through the interaction in the (joint) listener club sessions. This is a very impressive result." (Executive summary)
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"The organization has grown since the last evaluation in 2007, with the number of chapters expanding from seven to twelve. The membership comprises 45 other countries, some with the capacity to become chapters. Whether IAWRT is in a phase of expansion or consolidation is unclear, as there is no stra
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tegy in place and opinions in the matter seem to vary within the leadership and membership of the organization. Addressing the issue of possible expansion needs to take into account whether the organization currently has the required capacity and routines to support and follow up new chapters as well as individual members. Besides, there is also confusion when it comes to the actual number of members due to conflicting information. The decision to make a virtual secretariat has saved the organization money, but the survey indicate that this has gone unnoticed by a majority of the membership. Good developments have taken place, but the current ineffective structure of communication remains a challenge that also affects the secretariat’s ability to perform their best." (Executive summary, page 2)
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"The article outlines some of the ways in which an understanding of policymaker psychology and factors such as group dynamics and political context are reflected in the grey literature, and the implications of this for understanding the role of storytelling in political advocacy. It highlights pract
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ical advice about storytelling that emerges from the literature, and presents four case studies illustrating aspects of storytelling in action. It concludes by identifying the implications for scientists and other advocates of“evidence informed policymaking”, practitioners and policymakers." (Abstract)
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"In 2015, Farm Radio International applied to Making All Voices Count for a practitioner research and learning grant. Farm Radio International (FRI) is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organisation working in direct partnership with approximately 600 radio broadcasters in 38 African countries to figh
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t poverty and food insecurity. The research studied the impact of one of FRI’s projects, the Listening Post, initially developed as a pilot project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help agricultural development actors ensure their initiatives are responsive and accountable to farmers. The Listening Post is an interactive radio series aimed at an audience of farmers. It combines specialised interactive radio broadcasts with Uliza, a tool created by FRI for gathering and analysing feedback and questions from audience members. Uliza is built on an interactive voice response (IVR) system which enables listeners to vote on poll questions, leave messages and request the delivery of specific information. The research aimed to assess the effectiveness of the Listening Post, and to examine its potential as a tool for the adaptive management of agricultural programmes. This practice paper describes the research, and reflects more broadly on the challenges and opportunities provided by feedback models such as the Listening Post for improving inclusive and participatory agricultural development, and for advancing adaptive programme implementation based on feedback. It also discusses the potential of building on a tech-enabled feedback model to enable collective civic action for extension services that are responsive to the priorities of smallholder farmers. If the information generated by multi-stakeholder platforms like the Listening Post is to lead to adaptation and change in service provision, it is necessary to develop common understandings of the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders from the outset of programme design and implementation." (Summary)
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"Following decades of civil war, South Sudan still lacks a functioning healthcare system and has some of the worst maternal and child health indicators in the world. To help address this, between 2012 and 2017 BBC Media Action produced and broadcast a range of national radio programmes seeking to in
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fluence knowledge, attitudes, discussion and the social norms most likely to drive improvements in the RMNCH-related behaviours of women and their families. It also worked to strengthen the capacity of local radio stations to produce similar high-quality, audience-driven health programming. This report presents a synthesis of all research and analysis completed under this project. In brief, it finds that the challenging country context (e.g. the limited availability of quality healthcare nationally and the ongoing humanitarian crisis) limited the extent to which the project was able to contribute to improved health outcomes. Despite this, audiences were generally optimistic about the shows’ influence and value, and reported gaining knowledge and making some behavioural changes as a result of tuning in. Likewise, local radio station partners reported that the capacity-strengthening support had improved their technical skills, editorial confidence and engagement with audiences." (BBC Media Action website)
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"This practice briefing sets out what BBC Media Action has learned about how media can provide a platform for both men and women to hold their leaders to account, while empowering them to participate in their own communities. Unpicking the challenges faced and the solutions found, it will bring toge
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ther practice and research to examine how effective our factual programmes have been in reaching and impacting on men and women equally. The paper argues that these projects have been effective in building political knowledge, levels of discussion of governance issues and political participation among both men and women. However, it also draws the tentative conclusion that, in Nepal and Bangladesh, the programmes may be less effective at empowering female audiences to participate in politics than men. After setting out the global picture for gender and governance, the paper outlines BBC Media Action’s approach to supporting women to participate in their communities and hold their leaders to account. It then unpacks the challenges of creating gender-sensitive governance programmes and weighs up how successful BBC Media Action has been in reaching and impacting women. The paper concludes with some recommendations to inform future programming." (BBC Media Action website)
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"A review of eight projects with end-of-project and post project evaluation reports suggest that post project evaluations can contribute to better understanding of the sustainability of project impacts and identify unexpected and emerging outcomes years after project close. The review highlights som
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e of the methodological issues that are unique to post project (as opposed to end of project) evaluation, and point to the advantages of planning for sustainability measurement from the outset of the project. In the majority of cases, the sampling approach adopted at the endline proved challenging to replicate post project because it was not designed to measure sustainability, or because of access to or demographic changes in the beneficiary population. Finding suitable projects for this review was difficult because so few post project evaluations are done, fewer are publically available, fewer still had comparable final evaluations and included local voices. Agencies that fund post project evaluations offer a range of reasons for doing so: to learn, to promote a success, to inform replication or scale, to provide justification for future funding, to promote accountabilities. What is less explicit is how findings are used within implementing and donor agencies, shared with partners, and influence future programming. As part of this report, Valuing Voices offers an evaluability checklist for doing a post project evaluation from the onset of the project, and a checklist for measuring sustainability through the entire project cycle." (Abstract)
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"Beneficiary Communication is a program which emphasizes the use of communication equipment in passing relevant, timely and accurate lifesaving information to communities. The program supports an environment of transparency and accountability through creation of feedback mechanism. It is about provi
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ding practical, useful information at the right time, listening to people’s needs and opinions and using this information to improve the programming and operations of Partner national society (PNS), National Society (NS) and International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Beneficiary Communication program utilizes technology like SMS, Radio, Mobile Cinema, Posters, Sound tracks, Wall painting or traditional channels like drama and community meetings to pass lifesaving information to communities.
The impacts listed in this report cannot be solely attributed to the use of beneficiary communication tools. The impact is the contribution of the tools to the realization of the results of the projects in which the tools were mainstreamed. Indeed, the results of the programs in which beneficiary communication tools was mainstreamed are the impact of the use of tools by proxy.
The levels of knowledge of the beneficiaries with regards to causes of malnutrition and prevention of diseases which are caused by unhygienic conditions such as cholera have increased tremendously. This is evident from the results obtained through the pre and post mobile cinema evaluation on the above mentioned thematic areas, from the sites where the Red Cross Societies have implemented projects aimed at addressing malnutrition and hygiene.
The activities of the beneficiary communication program were well received by the target communities in all the five countries. The communities appreciated the mobile cinema and drama perhaps due to ease of learning from audio visual or observation. The putting to practice the knowledge gained in various thematic areas is another way of determining how well the beneficiaries have received beneficiary communication activities. A random check of households by personnel in-charge of community health in Rwanda revealed that nine in ten beneficiaries put to practice the knowledge they acquired from the mobile cinema shows.
The use of audio visuals and drama in local languages in all the countries sampled has proved to be an effective way of training both literate and illiterate members of the society. This is because both illiterate and literate members of the community simply learn through listening and observation." (Executive summary)
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"There are over 120 Australian Government funded Indigenous Broadcasting Services (IBSs) operating in Australia, with further unfunded IBS transmission sites. They vary in size from very small remote services to large community radio broadcasting services, and together, they reach an estimated audie
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nce of at least 100,000 Indigenous listeners who listen regularly. The most substantial investment in Indigenous broadcasting is provided by the Culture and Capability Programme under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS) which is administered by the Department of the Prime and Minister and Cabinet (PM&C). The purpose of this project was to forecast the return on investment over three years of a very remote, regional and urban IBS by understanding, estimating and valuing their impact on stakeholders. The analysis was verified through broader sector consultation to inform the Australian Government about the breadth and depth of impact likely to occur as a result of their continued investment in IBSs [...] We have identified six key insights from the analyses, explored in detail in section 7 of this report:
1. IBSs provide much more than radio – they are community assets that contribute to strengthening culture, community development and the local economy.
2. The outcomes achieved by IBSs appear consistent but the activities they undertake are varied.
3. The activities IBSs undertake are tailored to the specific needs of the community which helps build trust amongst the community.
4. IBSs are achieving a range of social returns on investment, heavily informed by their context, and value flows to a variety of stakeholder groups.
5. IBSs are contributing towards more of the Government’s priorities than is currently realised.
6. IBSs can leverage government funds to generate additional revenue – and greater impact – but only if they have sufficient resourcing available." (Executive summary, page 4-6)
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