MEDIA DEVELOPMENT

Evaluation Report
Executive summary Kyrgyzstan
Management and Leadership: Analyzing project partners’
capacities and collaboration with DW Akademie

dw-akademie.com

BackgroundKyrgyzstan is still considered the most freeof the Central Asian states, but in recent
years the legal and political framework has
steadily deteriorated. The international
NGO Freedom House classifies Kyrgyzstan
as a so-called “consolidated authoritarianregime”, with a score of 6.07 points on ascale where seven is the poorest ranking.
Kyrgyzstan was thus downgraded. The basic information rights of the Kyrgyz population are officially anchored in the country’sconstitution, but in reality, basic rights of
freedom of opinion and information areclearly restricted. In terms of foreign policy,
the relationship between Kyrgyzstan andTajikistan is particularly conflict-laden due
to border disputes.
The BMZ-supported project (funding phase2018–2020) is part of the strategic field ofsocial participation. It is part of the Asia
regional program and contributes to thefollowing joint regional overall objective (atimpact level):
Overall objective: Disadvantaged population groups, especially in rural areas, receive relevant information, exercise theirrights in a digital media world and participate responsibly in shaping social and political processes.
Project objective: The population of­Kyrgyzstan (especially in rural areas) constructively contributes to reporting.
The subject of the evaluation is the qualityof management (Management and Leadership Performance — M&L). This includes a
critical analysis of the performance of thethree selected project partners on site, theproject management of the DW Akademie
country team, strengths and weaknesses of
the cooperation with the partners and theprerequisites for a common learning culture. Selected project partners are:1. the Association of Civic Media, whichpools the interests of the civic media
2. the Media Support Center Foundation,
which integrates MIL as a pilot approachin schools
3. and the Media Development Center Public Foundation, which, in cooperation
with a Tajik partner, has established across-border network of journalists

The evaluation was implemented between
November 24, 2019 and April 9, 2020 andincluded a field phase from February 24,2020 to March 1, 2020 in Kyrgyzstan. Methodologically, document analysis, questionnaires for project partners, semi-structured
interviews, focus groups, background conversations with political and civil society
stakeholders and participant observation
at two project locations were used. The
concept for M&L evaluation developed by
DW Akademie is based on OECD/DAC criteria and the results of the evaluation capture
the contribution of management and leadership to relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability.

Conclusions of the project evaluation
Below are overall conclusions regarding the evaluation criteria,
averaging all three partner scores:
DAC Criterion(average of allassessments)

Numericvalue,
averageAssessment

Explanation

Relevance

5.0

Comprehensively
fulfilled

All findings of the evaluation showthat the criterion has been met.

Effectiveness

4.3

Overall fulfilled

Most findings of the evaluation showthat the criterion has been met.

Efficiency

4.3

Overall fulfilled

Most findings of the evaluation showthat the criterion has been met.

Impact4.3

Overall fulfilled

Most findings of the evaluation showthat the criterion has been met.

Sustainability

3.0

Partially fulfilled

Regarding performance, the findingsof the evaluation are ambivalent.

Overall Assessment:
In all discussions with the partner organizations, sustainability was clearly identified
as the biggest challenge. The partner organizations are not concerned with the question of whether the effects they are achieving with target groups are sustainable. The
partners are comparatively self-confident
on this issue and see clear and sustainableeffects of their work as a given. However,they are concerned about sustainability inthe sense of the survival of their own organization. The open and self-critical assessment of the partner organizations on thisissue suggests that they are continuously
dealing with this issue.
The cooperation with DW Akademie is perceived as very positive. There is obviously
a good relationship of trust and DW Akademie staff are considered competent by
the partner organizations. On this basis,
DW Akademie can also openly discuss organizational weaknesses with its partners.

In all other areas, the partners are well tovery well positioned. The choice of partners
is made sensibly; relevance and coherenceof the program design are given. The good
cooperation between DW Akademie’s country project management and the partners isclearly reflected in terms of effectiveness,efficiency and impact. At the same time, it
should be noted that the partner organizations are relatively small and can therefore function well even with a comparably
low level of formalized internal structures.
Therefore, the targeted organizational growth, if successful, will also trigger“growing pains”, as it will increasingly create new regulatory and structuring needs.
The great strength of the partners is theirvery high motivation, credibility and enthusiasm for the issues they are working on.

DW Akademie

is Deutsche Welle’s center forinternational media development,journalism training and knowledgetransfer. Our projects strengthen thehuman right to freedom of expression
and unhindered access to information.
DW Akademie empowers people
worldwide to make independent
decisions based on reliable facts andconstructive dialogue. DW Akademie isa strategic partner of the German
Federal Ministry for Economic
Coopera­tion and Development. We
also receive funding from the Federal
Foreign Office and the European Union
and are active in approximately 50
developing countries and emergingeconomies.

CONTAC T

Dr. Laura Moore
Head Research and Evaluation
laura.moore@dw.com
Berlin, Germany
DWAkademie@dw_akademie
youtube.com/DWAkademie
dw-akademie.com

The objective of the external evaluation is to provide a constructive assessment of the project results. It does not necessarily align with theperspective and planning of DW Akademie. Nevertheless, all findings were discussed in order to allow lessons learned to be incorporated into
the development of future strategies.