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-present

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

Concerns are growing over the health of prominent Azerbaijani activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, imprisoned on charges his defence team and rights groups state are politically motivated. © BBC News Azərbaycanca

Azerbaijani Hunger Striker Denied Bail

The 40-year-old faces up to five years in prison following an arrest many see as directly related to his criticism of the interior ministry.

Nasha Niva, Belarus' oldest newspaper, was banned in November 2021 and declared an extremist formation in January 2022 as part of a continuous crackdown on journalists and government's critics. © Monica Ellena/IWPR

Belarus’ Oldest Outlet Epitomises Struggle for Press Freedom

In one of the world’s most dangerous countries for reporters, mere dissent can lead to years in jail.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (right) with Vasif Talibov (left), now former governor of Nakhchivan in an official meeting in 2017. On December 21, 2022 Talibov resigned from his ruling position in the country’s remote enclave after 27 years. The 62-year-old cited health concerns, but rumours had been circulating that the central government in Baku sought greater control on the region. © Azerbaijan’s Presidential Press and Information Office

Azerbaijan: “The Sultan” Steps Down

Longtime ruler of autonomous enclave resigns on health concerns, but observers maintain his exit was on Baku’s orders.

Uzbekistan’s state prosecutor requested long jail terms for 22 activists and journalists accused of fomenting the July unrest that shook Nukus, the administrative centre of Uzbekistan's north-western region of Karakalpakstan in July 2022. © Uzbekistan's Supreme Court

Prosecutor Demands Long Sentences for Karakalpakstan Protesters

Trial of 22 defendants enters final stages amid concerns of bias and lack of transparency.

Armenia’s Russia Challenge

The limits of Moscow’s security promises now clearly demonstrates that Yerevan must adjust to a dangerous new reality of standing alone.

Moldovan oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc. © Graphic by Alex Burets

Special Investigation

The Cashier in Dubai

Investigative report tracks tangled route for money flowing to offshore companies from Moldova.

A woman takes part in a Women's March on August 13, 2020 in Minsk, Belarus. There have been nightly protests since the presidential election, in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory and another term in his 26-year rule of the country. Preliminary results gave him 80% of the vote, which opposition candidates alleged is a rigged count. © Misha Friedman/Getty Images

Flower Power: Women Prisoners in Belarus

The combined sentences of those jailed in demonstrations amount to nearly 500 years.

Supporters of former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili gather outside court in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo from 2021. © Daro Sulakauri/Getty Images

Georgia: Fate of Ailing Saakashvili Remains Unclear

Tbilisi has refused to acknowledge medical needs as genuine or to release jailed former leader for treatment.

A mosque in the village of Karakemer, in Kazakstan’s south-eastern Jambyl province. Kazakstans laws foresee that citizens can be punished for dissemination of religious materials, even if they are of a non-extremist nature. This even extends to selling a copy of the Quran or the New Testament on classified sites. © Petr Trotsenko RFE/RL

Kazakstan: Fined for a Book of Bible Stories

Citizens can be punished for dissemination of religious materials, even if of a non-extremist nature.

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 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.