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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

Since 1992, the Yerablur military cemetery, on a hilltop in the outskirts of Yerevan, has been the burial place of Armenian soldiers who died in the Nagorny Karabakh wars. © Arshaluis Mghdesyan

Is Armenia Giving up on Nagorny Karabakh?

Statements recognising Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity signal painful decisions may lie ahead.

Following his re-election on May 29, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan now looks set to continue a regional policy that has included expanding trade and economic cooperation, improving connectivity and reaching markets in Central Asia and beyond. © Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Turkey and Central Asia’s Growing Partnership

Erdoğan’s win marks continuity in Turkish economic and political engagement with the region.

Gita Hambardzumyan, 35, has lost her job at Artsakh Carpet, a rug manufacturer in Stepanakert. The mother of six spends long hours queuing for food as supplies of basic staples are low. © Siranush Sargsyan

Azerbaijan’s Blockade Paralyses Nagorny Karabakh

Economy is in freefall, with inflation soaring and unemployment on the rise.

People walk by a graffiti depicting Vladimir Putin in Simferopol, Crimea. Forced mobilisation of Ukrainian citizens within territories occupied by Russia has been ongoing since the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Almost 40,000 Ukrainian citizens are understood to have been illegally mobilised. © Alexander Aksakov/Getty Images

Ukrainians Forcibly Recruited to Russian Army

Kyiv is pursuing the illegal mobilisation of those living under occupation as a war crime.

Ukrainian flags dot streets in Georgia's capital Tbilisi. Georgians overwhelmingly support Ukraine, but the government did not join its western allies in the sanctions against Moscow. Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated that the country’s economy would suffer if Tbilisi sanctioned one of its main trading partners. © Gvantsa Seturidze

Georgians Struggle with High Prices Amid War in Ukraine

The influx of Russian exiles have pushed the cost of living up, while Tbilisi’s trade ties with Moscow have expanded.

Lena Mirzoyan with her pupils, who are holding the Yezidi flag. Numbering about 35,000 people, Yezidi are Armenia's largest ethnic minority. © Gayane Markosyan

Armenia’s Yezidi Girls Choose School Over Early Marriage

Despite conservative social norms that mean girls can wed as young as 14, drop-out rates are declining.

On May 22, the Comrat Court of Appeals validated the election of Evghenia Guțul as governor of Moldova’s autonomous region of Gagauzia, after law enforcement agencies detected violations of electoral law, including voter bribery, during the run-off of May 14. © Piotr Garciu

Court Upholds Election of Gagauzia’s Pro-Russian Governor

Even as Chișinău confirms its European path, Evghenia Guțul pledges closer ties with Moscow.

A girl reads a book in a reading room of Chuy regional library, in the town of Kant. Over 80 per cent of the 1,060 libraries in Kyrgyzstan are located in rural areas and in most villages they are the only cultural facility. © IWPR Central Asia

A World in 30 Metres: Kyrgyzstan’s Rural Libraries

Precious resources are often villages’ only cultural centres, but they remain underfunded and at risk.

(left) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan casts his vote in Turkey's general elections at a polling station in the Uskudar district on May 14, 2023 in Istanbul. (right) Republican People's Party (CHP) leader and presidential candidate of the main opposition alliance Kemal Kilicdaroglu arrives to cast his vote at a polling station during Turkey's General Election on May 14, 2023 in Ankara. © Umit Bektas-Pool/Getty Images and Burak Kara/Getty Images

Turkey Votes: Normalisation With Armenia Will Continue

The presidential contest looms large over the South Caucasus region and the outcome will have a profound impact in Yerevan and Baku.

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.