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Media

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Renforcement des capacités des journalistes et blogueurs arabes pour la promotion des droits de l’Homme

Bloggers and journalists benefit from human rights training. However, these activities should address more directly the needs and expectations of this target group, in particular by emphasizing economic, social and cultural rights and the practical aspects of training sessions.
Project Partner
Arab Institute for Human Rights
Project Description
The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.
Evaluation Date
October 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Renforcement des capacités des journalistes et blogueurs arabes pour la promotion des droits de l’Homme

It should be noted that the project document demonstrated some weaknesses in the presentation of the intervention logic, to the extent that project results were conflated with objectives. The wording of the three outcomes was identical to that of the objectives.
Project Partner
Arab Institute for Human Rights
Project Description
The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.
Evaluation Date
October 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Renforcement des capacités des journalistes et blogueurs arabes pour la promotion des droits de l’Homme

Some participants clearly learned a lot from the training sessions, and have disseminated the skills they acquired, contributing in some cases to the sustainability of the project. However these elements of impact were relatively limited, partly because the project team did not systematically maintain a liaison with all the participants following the training sessions. A more pro-active approach to management would have been welcome, for example in terms of maintaining communications with each participant after the training sessions.
Project Partner
Arab Institute for Human Rights
Project Description
The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.
Evaluation Date
October 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Renforcement des capacités des journalistes et blogueurs arabes pour la promotion des droits de l’Homme

The project was relatively weak in that costs were high and that it cannot be considered that the results achieved were commensurate with the expectations arising from the project document, or with the resources expended, even when taking into account the fact that political instability in the region increased the cost of activities.
Project Partner
Arab Institute for Human Rights
Project Description
The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.
Evaluation Date
October 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The system of using the grantee’s institutional website as a place where concerned persons could have their reports posted was sustainable as long as the grantee in Georgia is in a position to continue to maintain its website. At the time of evaluation, the reports were still posted there and available to read. Having gained the experience of operating this type of a project, the grantee has extended also extended to other projects related to civic education.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The project inputs were consistent with the delivery of the activities but not with the intent of developing citizen journalism. Embedding citizen journalism would have required more than a one-time training and payment for verified reports. In this regard, the project in Georgia lacked clarity of purpose and should have conceptualized a fully comprehensive development programme.

Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The grantee relied heavily on personal contacts to recruit participants, including journalists from the Charter of Ethical Journalists which the grantee had created under an earlier EU project. This was efficient since these people were known to be independent and helped maintain the perception of impartiality. At the same time, this limited the reach of the project to people who were already civically active. There were no links apparent between this effort and other more substantial efforts for citizen journalism, election reporting or observation. The reach of the project could have been extended through better use of social networks beyond the staff’s Facebook pages, and the use of participating media organizations to promote citizen reporting, the website and project purpose.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The effort was primarily focused on exposing problems in the 2012 Georgia parliamentary elections but any impact beyond this was unlikely. In part, this was intentional as the grantee did not want to further inflame the politicized context by widely disseminating materials that showed violations primarily by one side. But it was also a result of the one-off nature and limited reach of the activities. Enlarging the concept beyond reporting of just violations and embedding the project within the broader electoral process and its democratic meaning could have made this a wider, lasting citizen journalism effort.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The grantee in Georgia did undertake a good internal monitoring effort to track progress of project indicators, but these indicators primarily tracked outputs. This project might have had more significant but these were invisible to the evaluators. Most of the information on higher level outcomes was anecdotal and without more data, it was not possible to evaluate to which extent results were achieved.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The project itself was focused on the Georgia parliamentary elections event and the structures created were not used for the remainder of the electoral cycle, notably the 2013 presidential election which was held within the life of this project, and the upcoming 2014 local elections.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country