Focus

Amplify, Verify, Engage

The Amplify, Verify, Engage project promotes democratic growth, participatory governance, and cross-border cooperation, by strengthening civil society and independent media across Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus.

Years active: 2021-2023

The Amplify, Verify, Engage: Information for Democratisation and Good Governance in Eurasia project builds on IWPR's previous Norwegian-supported initiatives, including the Giving Voice, Driving Change project. AVE will continue to promote democratic growth, participatory governance, and cross-border cooperation, by strengthening civil society and independent media across Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus.

Amplify, Verify, Engage (AVE) has three key objectives, through which IWPR will:

Amplify journalists and independent media voices producing verified, evidence-based reporting;
Verify reliable information by strengthening the capacity of civil society and independent media to counter misinformation and disinformation;
Engage civil society, independent media, public officials and the general public to foster increased dialogue and cooperation.

Established in collaboration with and funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the project directly supports Norwegian priorities and values, builds on long-standing Norwegian supported programming in the region, and expands on IWPR’s extensive local and regional networks of independent media and civic groups.

Latest from the project

Telegram app used on a smartphone. © Carl Court/Getty Images

Analysis

How Azerbaijan’s Telegram Channels Fuel Intimidation

With little oversight, toxic disinformation and threats thrive on the encrypted platform.

On October 4, independent journalist and filmmaker Avazmad Ghurbatov, who works with the name of Abdullo Ghurbati, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison on dubious charges of using violence, insulting police officers and having ties with the banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). © Ghurbati's Facebook profile

Tajikistan’s Freedom of Expression Shrinks

Journalists get lengthy sentences on charges that rights groups say are groundless.

Gedatsi is a beer bar in Zugdidi, western Georgia. The name means "to drink'' in Mingrelian. Zugdidi is the administrative centre of the Samegrelo region, where most Mingrelian speakers are concentrated. © Lana Kokaia/IWPR

Georgia Risks Losing its Language “Treasure”

The lack of official status and the fear of separatism have drastically eroded the use of Mingrelian and Svan.

On October 18, a delegation of the European Union Technical Assessment Mission visited the settlements of Vardenis, near the border with Azerbaijan. The communities came under shelling during a new fighting outbreak in mid-September. The EU foreign ministers agreed to send a short-term observation mission to work on the border. © Karen Sargsyan

EU to Deploy First Mission along Armenian-Azerbaijani Border

Moscow views peacekeeping efforts as an attempt to oust it from its previous role as sole mediator in the conflict.

Moldova's capital Chisinau. © IWPR

Moldova's Media Struggles to Report on Ukraine

Sector faces challenges including underfunding, a skills gap and embedded pro-Russian propaganda.

A war veterans protest on April 25, 2022 in front of the Yashat Fund in Azerbaijan's capital Baku when dozens of former combatants from the Karabakh war asked for more support from the state. © Mikroskop Media

Mental Health Crisis Among Azerbaijani Veterans

Since 2020, 45 former combatants from the Karabakh war have taken their life as ex-soldiers continue to struggle with trauma and socio-economic difficulties.

A residential building in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Russians Flock to Central Asia

Fears of price rises, unemployment and accommodation shortages as hundreds of thousands seek to avoid military service.

Ekaterine Marikashvili, a sergeant and a senior sapper of the EOD group.

Georgia: Women in the Army

“When I put on my uniform for the first time, I felt so strong and proud.”

On October 6, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, and EU Council President Charles Michel met in Prague on the side of the inaugural summit of the European Political Community. © The Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia website, https://www.primeminister.am/

Comment

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Pursuing an Elusive Peace

After a recent flurry of diplomacy, Yerevan and Baku seem closer than ever to attaining normalisation.

IWPR ACADEMY

Newsrooms Countering Disinformation

IWPR film and online course available in seven languages is supporting young journalists across the Eastern Partnership region and Central Asia to detect and combat disinformation in their daily work.

Related Social Media pages

The Amplify, Verify, Engage (AVE) project builds on IWPR's previous Norwegian-supported initiatives, including the Giving Voice, Driving Change - from the Borderland to the Steppes project. AVE will continue to promote democratic growth, participatory governance, and cross-border cooperation, by strengthening civil society and independent media across Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Caucasus.