E VA LUAT ION R E P OR T

Executive summary
MoroccoCommunity media as change agents in Morocco: Increased
reach through improved structures and networks

dw-akademie.com

BackgroundIn 2011, Morocco initiated a reform p­ rocesswith the aim of strengthening the rule oflaw in the country. Although the new constitution guarantees freedom of expression, freedom of information and freedomof the press, they remain restricted. Media professionals who report on protests
movements voicing social and politicalgrievances are often subject to imprisonment or fines. The lack of local information, especially outside the politicaland economic center of Rabat-Casablanca-Marrakech, is further exacerbated by
the development gap between the centerand local authorities. Social participation
thus remains low. One way of closing thisgap is through community media (alsocalled “citizen media” or “civil society media”). Often affiliated with non-governmental organizations, they report on local and civil society issues that are rarely
covered by traditional, more establishedmedia outlets. Since March 2020, Morocco, like the rest of the world, has been
subject to contact and travel restrictions
in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another relevant shift in the framework
conditions of the project is the d­ iplomatic

crisis between Morocco and Germany,
which escalated in 2021.
The evaluation focuses exclusively on
the BMZ-funded bilateral activities of DW
Akademie in Morocco (internally referredto as LibEx). By agreement with DW Akademie, this does not include the I-Media project (March 2021-2024), which is funded by
the Delegation of the European Union (EU)and co-financed by the BMZ. The BMZ project in Morocco is expected to run for threeyears (January 2020 - December 2022), andcurrently has a total budget of 1.355 million euros. The objective of the project is
to support community media as they report on local and civil society issues. The
main implementing partner is the Forumdes Alternatives Maroc (FMAS); DW Akademie also works directly with the non-governmental organization 100% Mamans.
The target group is community media
throughout Morocco. The activities aim tostrengthen FMAS, its network (E-Joussour)and community media outlets in order toimprove freedom of information and media diversity in Morocco. Three outputs
were isolated: one, strengthening FMAS’s

structures in order to better support community media, two, making E-Joussour operational as a national media platform forcommunity media; and three, supporting
the structures, distribution channels anduse of demand-driven formats of selected
community media outlets.
In addition to the reporting obligations tothe donor (the BMZ), the other main objective of this evaluation is to extract lessons learned for the project team and DW
Akademie. The evaluation was conductedaccording to the six OECD/DAC evaluation criteria. According to DW Akademie’sTerms of Reference, particular weight
was given to operational efficiency. Data
collection took place in January 2022. Nofield trip to Morocco was planned due tothe COVID-19 pandemic. Document review, 15 semi-structured interviews andobservation of steering meetings werethe main data collection tools. Following the data analysis, a meeting with DW
Akademie and the implementing partner
FMAS took place in February 2022 to validate and discuss the conclusions of theevaluation.

Project evaluation resultsRelevance: Although the objectives of DW
Akademie’s media development project(LibEx) are not at the core of the priorities
outlined as part of the official state development cooperation between Germanyand Morocco, it ties in with certain aspects,
including vocational training, decentralization and the promotion of women. Fromthe perspective of DW Akademie’s civil society partners, LibEx came at the right time
to implement their own plans for the development of local community media. Thusfar, the community media sector has remained small in terms of the total numberof actors and their reach. Through FMAS,
the project was able to gradually involve
various community media outlets with access to marginalized target groups such as
the rural population, women, young people and refugees throughout Morocco inits project activities. These diverse target
groups benefit from more social participation and a diversification of the media

landscape in Morocco. The project’s relevance is thus assessed as “overall fulfilled.”
Coherence: In addition to LibEx, DW Akademie acquired other projects together withFMAS, such as the EU-funded “I-Media”
project. This enabled the partners to expand their reach, resources and combined
implementation competence. Thus far, DW
Akademie and the Moroccan project partners have not sufficiently approached potential external partners in order to identify and take advantage of synergies intheir project strategies. Relevant partners
include other media development organizations, projects promoting civil society
engagement, target group-specific community media networks, and state actors
from the media sector. The project’s coherence can be assessed as “overall fulfilled.”
Effectiveness: After a partnership ateye-level was established, DW Akademie

began to work with FMAS to develop astrategy for strengthening the community media sector in Morocco. Due to theresulting shifts in the original impact logicof the project, the original indicators will
not all be met. LibEx adequately reflects
the diversity of the partners, who are distributed geographically across Morocco.
The flagship project, the community media project Mères en Ligne instituted by
the NGO 100% Mamans, and other community media were financially supported
during the COVID-19 crisis and were thus
able to increase the quality and quantity of
their productions. The electronic platform
E-Joussour is not yet functional. In addition
to technical training, the project has also
been active in organizational development, including promoting the inclusionof volunteers in community media. A multiplier program will be completed at theend of March 2022. A well-received study
on the legal framework of communitymedia was published to a wide audience.
The project’s effectiveness is thus rated as“overall fulfilled.”
Efficiency: In the first two years, DW
Akademie invested a number of resources to set up appropriate processes andstructures for the joint management ofthe project with FMAS. Since the second
half of 2021, several relevant activities
have been designed and implemented,
although the community media outlets involved in these activities have not yet been
integrated into LibEx’s strategic management structures. Further investment will
be needed from all partners for the continued development of the project and its
financial management. The feedback from
community media partners on the activities completed thus far has been positive.
The project has been able to draw on previous experiences from Morocco’s neighboring countries through the engagementof project members and trainers with agreat deal of experience in the region, as
well as a number of joint activities. The
current testing of the Colmena software(developed in Latin America) is an exampleof how results from DW Akademie community media projects worldwide can be applied to Morocco. The project’s efficiency
is assessed as “partially fulfilled.”

Impact: LibEx increases the quantity andquality of community media outlets andtheir productions through the parallel
implementation of technical training andorganizational development. In this way,
it indirectly strengthens the advocacy efforts of community media outlets for theirlegal recognition, which would ultimatelyincrease media diversification in Morocco.
LibEx contributes to the improvement of
its members’ economic situation throughnetwork development. The professionalization of community media also has an
impact on other segments of civil society,in line with the Moroccan government’sdecentralization plans and the UN’s 2030
Agenda. In view of the current, still early,
stage of the cooperation with Morocco, theproject’s impact can be considered “comprehensively fulfilled.”
Sustainability: Central to LibEx’s sustainability is the successful alignment of theteam with the ownership of the partners
over the project. Ownership over theproject is also an important precondition
for the continued commitment of thenumerous volunteers. In addition, LibEx
promotes the continued developmentof the individual organizations and thenetwork as a whole, as well as building
up regional and local expertise. The close
cooperation with a single central project
partner has many advantages, but also
carries the risk of unintended negative
consequences, such as a higher likelihood of dependency. There is also a needto expand the mobilization of expertiseand support within the network for thesake of the network. Sustainability is thus
rated as “overall 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. We
also 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.