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

Karlygash Muratova, 90, casts her ballot in Kazakhstan's eastern city of Karaganda. On June 5, Kazakhs overwhelmingly voted in favour of constitutional amendments that de-centralise the decision-making in the oil-and-gas rich Central Asian nation. © IWPR

Kazakstan’s Referendum Unlikely to Bring Change

Citizens said yes to the proposed constitutional amendments, but few believe the state’s hold on power will ease.

Stela Gevorgyan, 37, and her mother lived with a relative when the earthquake hit. The extended family was made homeless, but Gevorgyan’s mother managed to move into the shelter. Her mother died in late 2021 and the daughter still lives there alone. © Armine Avetisyan

Photo Essay

Armenia: Three Decades in Temporary Accommodation

Families left homeless by the 1988 earthquake are still living in tiny, makeshift shelters.

A view of Khnatsakh. Animal husbandry is the main occupation of its 820 residents, who now struggles to find pastures and grassland. Since the 2020 war, the village lost access to about 22 hectares of land. © Gayane Mkrtchyan

Armenia’s Border Villages Live with Danger

Locals warn that the clear demarcation of Armenian-Azerbaijani territory is key to their security.

Uzbekistan, like the other former Soviet states in Central Asia, has been reluctant to criticise Russia's invasion of Ukraine, fearing repercussions on trade, security assistance, and labor markets. There are over 3,4 million Uzbek citizens registered in Russia, and about 90 per cent of them migrated in search of work. © Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Russian Invasion Divides Uzbek Society

Moscow’s war in Ukraine is polarising public opinion in the Central Asian country.

Nika Gvaramia, editor-in-chief of TV Mtavari Arkhi, was sentenced to three and half years in jail on charges of abuse of power while serving as director of Rustavi 2, an independent broadcaster he ran until 2019. He is shown during a protest held in 2017 in support of Rustavi 2, whose ownership was changed by Georgia's the Supreme Court in 2017. © Courtesy of N Gvaramia

Jailing of Georgian Media Owner Raises Questions on Press Freedom

Nika Gvaramia imprisoned for abuse of power in a sentence largely seen as a retaliation for his criticism of the ruling party.

Harvest in Hartagyugh, a village in Armenia's northwestern region of Lori. Over the past five years, food self-sufficiency has been steadily decreasing in the South Caucasus country of three million, due to low yields, uncultivated land and rising fertilisers and fuel prices. © Gayane Sargsyan

Armenian Farmers Brace for a Difficult Year

Geopolitics and lack of long-term vision threaten the country’s food security.

Protests Reignite in Tajikistan’s Restive Region

Authorities struggle to contain anger over a citizen’s unexplained death in detention.

Armenia's Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in Yerevan. The Ministry has been actively working in recent years to create a foster care institution: child care and protection centers are being liquidated, and with the funds raised, the crisis centers of child care and the number of foster families are increasing, both in the capital and in the regions.

Armenia’s Growing Foster Families

Ministry of labour and social affairs promotes alternative to placing vulnerable young people in orphanages or children’s homes.

In 2014 Ekaterina moved to Kyiv from Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine. Her older sister, Iryna, stayed behind. When Ekaterina had to flee Ukraine's capital due to shelling Iryna did not believe her accounts about Russians bombing against civilians. © Piotr Garciu

The Sisters Torn Apart by Russia’s Invasion

While some Ukrainians flee shelling and occupation, those living beyond Russian lines do not believe civilians are being targeted.

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.