media

Considering that 24 per cent of rural women in Haïti are farmers, issues around access to land, management and exploitation of natural resources are hugely important. In both the North and North-East departments where 50 per cent of the population rely on farming activities to live, land issues in can be highly contested and become a source of conflict. To addresses the issues faced by rural Haitian women farmers, UNDEF funded a project focusing on women’s access to ICT. The project was highly effective in both building skills and strengthening the capacity of women to network and lobby for their rights. Through the activities of the project, rural women’s capacities to lobby for results were increased. The use of technology to achieve lobbying outcomes was innovative and efficient, leading to direct benefits in the five target communities. The project was relevant and facilitated the establishment of dialogue between grassroots organizations and local authorities. The implementing agency also efficiently managed high-level outputs remaining within the project plan.

Considering that 24 per cent of rural women in Haïti are farmers, issues around access to land, management and exploitation of natural resources are hugely important. In both the North and North-East departments where 50 per cent of the population rely on farming activities to live, land issues in can be highly contested and become a source of conflict. To addresses the issues faced by rural Haitian women farmers, UNDEF funded a project focusing on women’s access to ICT. The project was highly effective in both building skills and strengthening the capacity of women to network and lobby for their rights. Through the activities of the project, rural women’s capacities to lobby for results were increased. The use of technology to achieve lobbying outcomes was innovative and efficient, leading to direct benefits in the five target communities. The project was relevant and facilitated the establishment of dialogue between grassroots organizations and local authorities. The implementing agency also efficiently managed high-level outputs remaining within the project plan.

 The project was generated by UNDEF itself, which approached the grantee and asked it to design the initiative as a response to the asymmetrical power balance between cars and humans in many post-Soviet cities. The project objective was “To create a systematic long-term approach and corresponding tools to effectively impact pedestrian strategy development and state accountability to pedestrian policy development and execution.” The project focus was timely and relevant. The project approach was innovative and agile in adapting to shifts in the context. The project achieved its objectives and was cost-efficient and well managed. Although it faces sustainability challenges, the project approach and grantee could potentially adapt and tailor their work to both international donors and other interested stakeholders. UNDEF’s flexible approach; initiative in generating project ideas; and willingness to generate a project in partnership with a small organization in response to a particular need are valuable assets in the context of this project.

This was a well-structured project which laid the foundation for a nationwide network of journalists concerned with human rights issues, particularly in rural marginalized areas. The project was relevant and much needed given the context of human rights abuses and the suppression of the media. It was also appropriate, although there are constraints there is sufficient democratic space for human rights influenced journalism since journalists were able to write about a range of human rights issues and call duty-bearers to account. The project also met its objectives: the skills of journalists in relation to human rights issues have been enhanced, reporting on human rights has increased, and civil society capacity to understand how the media works has improved – though closer engagement between NGOs and the media could be further strengthened.

This was a well-structured project which laid the foundation for a nationwide network of journalists concerned with human rights issues, particularly in rural marginalized areas. The project was relevant and much needed given the context of human rights abuses and the suppression of the media. It was also appropriate, although there are constraints there is sufficient democratic space for human rights influenced journalism since journalists were able to write about a range of human rights issues and call duty-bearers to account. The project also met its objectives: the skills of journalists in relation to human rights issues have been enhanced, reporting on human rights has increased, and civil society capacity to understand how the media works has improved – though closer engagement between NGOs and the media could be further strengthened.

This was a well-structured project which laid the foundation for a nationwide network of journalists concerned with human rights issues, particularly in rural marginalized areas. The project was relevant and much needed given the context of human rights abuses and the suppression of the media. It was also appropriate, although there are constraints there is sufficient democratic space for human rights influenced journalism since journalists were able to write about a range of human rights issues and call duty-bearers to account. The project also met its objectives: the skills of journalists in relation to human rights issues have been enhanced, reporting on human rights has increased, and civil society capacity to understand how the media works has improved – though closer engagement between NGOs and the media could be further strengthened.

This was a well-structured project which laid the foundation for a nationwide network of journalists concerned with human rights issues, particularly in rural marginalized areas. The project was relevant and much needed given the context of human rights abuses and the suppression of the media. It was also appropriate, although there are constraints there is sufficient democratic space for human rights influenced journalism since journalists were able to write about a range of human rights issues and call duty-bearers to account. The project also met its objectives: the skills of journalists in relation to human rights issues have been enhanced, reporting on human rights has increased, and civil society capacity to understand how the media works has improved – though closer engagement between NGOs and the media could be further strengthened.

The project sought to expand the space for informed public dialogue on human rights issues in Jordan and contribute to building a stronger public culture of respect for human rights. The developed a training manual on how to use data-driven journalism to cover human rights issues and trained a group of journalists to apply these skills in their daily work. The project also aimed to foster a more informed public dialogue on human rights issues through the production of high quality journalism and radio programmes that actively informed and engaged the public on human rights topics. The project also leveraged of new technology tools to provide media with more factual information to produce human rights-oriented stories. The exceeded its targets including the training of 11 senior journalists and 69 students/junior journalists on the use of data-driven journalism and publishing 52 in-depth stories as well as broadcasting 12 radio shows. The project helped consolidate a community of journalists highly engaged in covering human rights-related issues. It also helped in setting higher standards for reporting, encouraging other journalists to adopt similar methodologies and widen the use of data-driven and evidence-based journalism. As such, the project contributed to building a public culture of respect for human rights in Jordan, with a focus on freedom of expression and gender equality.

The project “Strengthening Democracy through Freedom of Expression and a Peace Agenda for Journalists in a post-conflict Colombia” was implemented by the Foundation for the Freedom of the Press (Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, FLIP) from 1 December 2014 to 30 November 2016. The overall development goal of the project was to create an agenda where the right to freedom of expression can be fully realized and to build a strong media network that can advocate in a post-conflict Colombia without retaliation or restriction. The project coincided with the culmination of the peace negotiations in Havana between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC), with the Final Peace Agreement ratified in November 2016.  The project had three outcomes: increased participation of Colombian journalists and civil society in an open, plural and democratic debate about the challenges and the role of media in a post-conflict peace time Colombia;increased awareness among the Government, FARC and civil society of the impact conflict has had on the media’s ability to exercise the freedom of expression; and increased understanding among journalists in conflict zones on thematic areas related to their work.  The project aimed at reaching the following two main groups of beneficiaries: journalists operating in conflict areas2 who would be actively engaged in the process of developing an Agenda for the Freedom of the Press and Peace; and other journalists with online access (through FLIP’s website) to documented resources/tools

To increase representation and participation of women in social, economic and political activities in Somalia, the project focused on training and providing support to 20 CSO partners, through mentoring, exchanges, and networking. Grassroots awareness was raised through the CSOs and via the media, as well as through a series of school debates. Advocacy targeting regional and national officials was carried out through meetings and the development of regional and national strategies on women’s empowerment. A final component of the project tested the new capacity of these CSOs, by awarding 10 USD2,000 grants to CSOs which submitted the most innovative projects on women’s empowerment. The project was well designed, with a number of components that helped it both to empower women in the 20 participating CSOs and beyond. It was also timely, given discussions on a new Constitution and elections announced for 2016. The actions planned were carried out and met their targets. There were no superfluous components in the project; each was designed to add value to other parts of the project.