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

The reporters of Black Box, (l to r) Stefan Bejan, Stela Mihailovici, Mariana Rata and Ilie Gulca, the investigative journalism programme of Moldova's independent television channel TV8, tracked tangled routes for money flowing to offshore companies from Moldova. © Black Box

Reporting Impact

The Cashier of Dubai: Investigative Journalism with Impact

Moldova story leads to international legal cooperation in anti-corruption case.

The press conference of the participants to the 2023 Eurovision song contest. The event is held in Liverpool, UK, on behalf of Ukraine, which won the 2022 edition but could not host the event due to the ongoing Russian invasion. © Maria Romanenko

The Blue-And-Yellow Eurovision

Song contest provides highly symbolic moment of national unity for Ukrainians both at home and abroad.

A woman sings patriotic songs of the Soviet Union during a march near the Kremlin with pro-Communist demonstrators in downtown Moscow, Russia during May Day celebrations, May 2001. © Oleg Nikishin/Newsmakers

Back to the USSR? Memory Wars in the South Caucasus

Kremlin narratives have co-opted history and propagated a distorted memory of the Soviet past.

The Kyrgyz authorities are seeking to introduce controls over the screening of audio-visual materials during festivals, conferences and trainings, in a move that rights’ groups consider a further restriction of basic freedoms. © Aneta Pawlik/Unsplash

Kyrgyzstan Mulls Mandatory Licenses for all Video Content

Warning that draft resolution that foresees the introduction of blanket oversight could violate country’s constitution.

Apartment blocks under construction in Yerevan, Armenia's capital. The construction sector employs a large number of Indians and Iranian workers who have been increasingly seeking job opportunities in the South Caucasus nation. © A. Avetisyan

Armenia: Indians and Iranians Fuel Labour Market

Numbers have increased in recent years, but migrants often face exploitation.

Paramedics and ambulance drivers took it to the streets in January 2023 to protest deteriorating working conditions and inadequate pay. It was the latest in a series of demonstration held since May 2022. © Medicine Union

Georgia: Medical Workers Struggle to Make Ends Meet

Health care employees call for higher wages and better working conditions amid rising cost of living.

The Association of Independent Press (API) in partnership with IWPR, gathered experts from Moldova to discuss how to enhance the country's resilience to disinformation, strengthen social cohesion and increase citizens’ awareness in the field of security. © API Moldova

Project Highlight

Countering New Security Challenges in Moldova

Enhancing resilience requires the combined efforts of authorities, civil society and media.

Belarus: How Political Persecution Extends to Families

The authorities routinely harass and arrest relatives of activists as a tactic of intimidation.

A training session about Russian propaganda's roots and methods held by Tbilisi-based Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). IDFI is one of the three recipients of the investigative journalism grants provided by IWPR’s project Amplify, Verify, Engage: Information for Democratization and Good Governance in Eurasia (AVE). The project also supported Moldova’s Media Birlii and Ukraine’s Gwara Media to delve into Russia-fuelled narratives and their impact. © IDFI

Project Highlight

Supporting Investigative Skills, Debunking Disinformation

IWPR projects build advanced fact-checking and analysis abilities among journalists in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

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.