E VA LUAT ION R E P OR T

Executive summary
Serbia | Western Balkans
Giving young people a voice:Innovative digital media in the Western Balkans

dw-akademie.com

BackgroundThe evaluated project is a continuationof previous projects undertaken by DW
Akademie (2017-2019) in the Western Balkans, aimed at improving access to information and enabling the participation ofyoung people under the age of 30 in decision-making processes. The project was
designed in response to declining media
freedoms in the region, where access totimely and accurate information has beencurtailed as a result of the failed transformation of the public broadcasting
system, political and economic pressure
on the media, and threats and violenceagainst journalists, including by high level
officials—as noted in the EU Progress report for Serbia 2021. Although young people are recognized as particularly vulnerable category, with access to information
for youth listed as one of public interest
priorities in national government sectoral
strategies, youth voices remain widely
unrepresented in the mainstream media.
Coupled with the absence of a more holistic approach to media literacy, youngpeople, who are increasingly interested
in leaving the region, are usually left totheir own devices when seeking credible
information that will help them make informed decisions about their future. This
is where the DW Akademie project “YoungMedia—Media for and with Young People”
comes in. With three local partners in Serbia, and a network of trainers and mentors, the project team focuses on one,strengthening the capacities of targeted
youth media outlets to create innovative,
audience-centered content, and two, mobilizing a network of actors determinedto create an enabling environment foryouth voices and actions. Over the past
two years, DW Akademie worked on expanding its regional network by creating
opportunities for youth media outlets andtheir supporters to connect with peers,
exchange knowledge and ideas, and inspire each other.
The evaluation was carried out between
November 2021 and April 2022, with themain purpose of collecting lesson learnedfor a future project. The evaluation wasbased on the six OECD/DAC criteria—relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability—with a particular focus on efficiency. The evaluation
is based on a combination of Outcome
Harvesting and Outcome Mapping methodologies, using a variety of methods tocollect and analyze results.
This is a well-managed project, deeply
embedded in the work of local partners,
who managed to achieve significant results despite the pandemic circumstances. For the project to evolve further, several key issues must be addressed, suchas an excessive focus on activities insteadof results, the differing levels of engagement and commitment by key partners
and allies, an excessive administrative
burden on partners and the project team,and an insufficient sensitivity to genderissues and possible instances of violence.

Project evaluation results
Relevance: The DW Akademie project inSerbia/Western Balkans continues to address a key developmental problem. Integral to universal human rights, the United
Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 16
targets freedom of expression, media freedom and free access to information. They
also feature prominently in the developmental policy of the EU in the region (withan eye on EU integration) and the developmental goals of BMZ, as the German government’s core aim is to support future EUmembership. In addition, the project is inline with the developmental agenda of theSerbian government, as defined, for example, in its National Youth Strategy. The project follows the direction of DW Akademie’s
strategic model for media development,with activities focused on three of the four
key areas of strategic action. The project ishighly relevant to the needs of the key target group (young people up to the age of30), although it lacks a critical sensitivity togender issues. In addition, its overall relevance continues to be undermined by theongoing decline in freedom of expression

and independent media and the shrinking
space for civil society—particularly in Serbia. In summary, the project’s relevance israted as “overall fulfilled.”
Coherence: As the project activities areembedded in the wider German development cooperation context of EU integration (the core pillars of which include
strengthening of democracy, rule of law
and a vibrant civil society), a substantial
degree of coherence with actions implemented by other German actors in the fieldof media freedom and equal rights for children and youth remains guaranteed. The
participatory approach in cooperation
with the project’s implementing partners
ensures a certain level of coordination withthe other activities engaged in by theseorganizations in terms of youth media development. Since the launch of the project,other international developmental cooperation actors have also added youth andyouth media components to their media
development activities. As DW Akademie
remains the dominant actor, and due tothe established formal and informal cooperation with relevant other actors, a certain degree of external coherence can beassured. The project’s coherence can thus
be rated as “overall fulfilled.”
Effectiveness: The key project results include increased capacities by youth media
to create innovative digital content and enhanced regional networking that facilitates
the exchange of knowledge and ideas. DW
Akademie gathered 11 media outlets in a
Regional Youth Media network and had
different levels of engagement with targeted media outlets. While the criteria forchoosing partners were unclear, six media
outlets interviewed for the evaluation allreport a high degree of satisfaction withthe support provided. DW Akademie set
up a new generation of multipliers whoreported an increased understanding of
the needs of young audience. KOMS (Serbian youth umbrella organization) established a cooperation with DW Akademie
to enable better representation of theirmembers’ interests in the public sphere.

Local Press stated that they now have four
media outlets that have established permanent youth sections. The lack of monitoring and evaluation data made a morethorough assessment of results impossible, while the existing results frameworkprovided limited opportunities to capture
any key changes made by the project. TheCOVID-19 pandemic represented the mostimportant external factor influencing theproject results, while internal cohesion
and the dedication of the various actors in
the network had a positive impact on theattainment of results. The Criterion effectiveness is rated “overall fulfilled.”
Efficiency: With an annual operating budget of 450,000 Euro, this complex andmultifaceted project seems to be cost-effective. The decentralized project management structure with its highly motivated,dedicated and experienced staff in Bonnand Belgrade forms one of the project’s
core assets. At the same time, this highly
personality-focused architecture also contains a certain level of risk and presents
an obstacle to a more systematic project
management approach. In addition, DW
Akademie’s external administrative requirements (such as bi-monthly financial
reporting for implementing partners),
frequent changes in accounting rules andregulations, and the annual budgeting of
the program as a whole present a hugeburden for efficient project management
and the cooperation with implementing
partners. Finally, the lack of a system fortimely monitoring and evaluation within
the project is the most serious impediment to the project’s efficiency. As a consequence, the project’s efficiency is rated
as “partially fulfilled.”
Impact: The single most important resultof the Young Media program is the (re)introduction of the subject of youth media
into the discussions around regional media. At the same time, DW Akademie staff,
local partner organizations, multipliers
and selected strategic partners now forma network that has the potential to contribute to longer-term changes in the media landscape and society at large. Thus,in Serbia, a significant shift in perception
among local media outlets has occurred,leading to a certain journalistic and institutional opening to young journalists andmedia content for young people. Cooperation with and support for KOMS has
broadened the advocacy base for youth
rights in Serbia. In certain project areas,
like access to traditional media or the economic sustainability of youth media, nosignificant results could be achieved thus
far, and there is still room for improvement
in strengthening the position of youth media formats and newsrooms within publicbroadcasters. The project’s impact is thus
assessed as “overall fulfilled.”
Sustainability: Five years into the YoungMedia project, which operates in a highly
dynamic field and geographic region, it
remains challenging to determine the program’s sustainability, especially given thesubstantial discontinuities that occurred in
the project planning due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Due to the project’s focus on
youth, there is a great deal of staff fluctuation among DW Akademie’s regional
media partners, and the intensity andquality of the cooperation with the selected media partners is permanently in flux.
On the positive side, the unique regional
network of contacts with specific expertise on youth media (including part of themultipliers) established by DW Akademie
and the long-term partnerships with theimplementing partners, who have takenownership of the project, significantly contribute to the overall sustainability of theproject. Several innovative media formats
developed within the project framework
will make lasting changes to the media
landscape and the broader social environment in which they operate. The extent towhich the project’s themes and actions
have become embedded in the work of local partners such as KOMS and Local Press
and the network of contacts created within
the project represent the most important
contributions to project’s sustainability.
In summary, the project’s sustainability is
rated as “partially fulfilled.”

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. Wealso receive funding from the Federal
Foreign Office and the European Union
and are active in approximately 60
developing countries and emerging
economies.

CONTAC TDr. Laura Moore
Head Research and Evaluation
laura.moore@dw.com
Berlin, Germany
DWAkademie@dw_akademie
DWAkademie
dw.com/newsletter-registration
dw.com/mediadev

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.