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

Lilit Martorysyan is Armenia's most propminent transgender activist. In 2019 she addressed the Parliament, calling for protection and respect for her community. Her brief and healt-felt speech prompted political and diplomatic arguments, but it also marked a landmark step for LGBTI rights in the country. © Mania Israyelyan

Armenia: “I Was Born in a Body That Was Not Mine”

Country’s most prominent transgender activist describes her struggle to protect her community from discrimination and violence.

A sign showing the entrance to Belarus is seen at the Ukraine-Belarus border crossing on February 13, 2022 in Vilcha, Ukraine. © Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Tensions on Ukraine-Belarus Border

Locals say that morale is high, despite intelligence warnings that a fresh invasion could be imminent.

Nikoloz who turned 18 a few months ago has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which impacts his communication skills and is often expressed in limited and repetitive patterns of behaviour. © IWPR

Georgia: Autistic Adults Left Behind

While children have access to free therapy, treatment centres are not equipped to support adults.

Women, children and elderly people make up the vast majority of those heading abroad, as men between 18 and 60 years of age are barred from leaving Ukraine. © Oleksandr Solonenko

Photo Essay

Lviv, a City at the Crossroads of Ukraine’s Refugee Crisis

Hundreds of thousands arrive every day as they flee Russia’s invasion.

Central Asian Migrants Leave Russia

Millions from all over the region have historically travelled there to work, with their remittances playing a significant part in many countries’ economies.

After thousands of computers used to mine cryptocurrency overwhelmed the power grid in Georgia’s mountainous region of Svaneti at the height of winter, 200 residents gathered in the medieval church of St. George in Mestia, Svaneti's main centre, to take an oath on the ancient icon of the saint that they would never mine cryptocurrencies. © IWPR

Crypto Mining Overtakes Georgian Power Grid

Svaneti residents turned to ancient rituals to fight electricity shortages caused by virtual currencies.

An elementary school in Armenia's Syunik province. Parents shoulder a significant burden to ensure that their children receive proper schooling, with some experts assessing that a third of the average Armenian household expenditure was on education-related costs. © Mania Israyelyan

Armenia’s Education Gap

Parents are forced to shoulder a significant burden to ensure that their children receive proper schooling.

A charred car hit by several rockets in Mariupol.

Ukraine War Diary by A. Borden

Under Siege in Mariupol

A family describes the “hell” of days under Russian bombardment without water, fuel or contact with the outside world.

How Media in Belarus and Russia Joined the Information Battlefield

Both countries have been flooded with incitement alongside deliberate confusion between fiction and historical facts.

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.