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Can a Radio Series Change Attitudes and Norms on Violence Against Women? (Oxfam Evaluation Case Study, 2016)

According to the World Bank’s 2015 Development Report, edutainment has the potential to achieve large-scale behaviour change, and many other studies have noted similarly positive results. However, rigorously-gathered evidence of edutainment’s impact on behaviour change is still lacking. Oxfam has implemented edutainment programmes in 14 countries and is constantly seeking to better understand its impact. In 2015, Oxfam Novib’s impact measurement unit conducted a rigorous (randomised) evaluation of an edutainment pilot project in Tunisia.

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From passion to activism? The politics, communications, and creativity of participatory networks in the MENA region (LSE Paper 2017)

This paper argues that while platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are unquestionably allowing some young citizens in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region quicker, easier and greater access to job opportunities and likeminded groups and citizens inside and outside the region, class-based digital divides exist, scepticism of new media remains, online surveillance and harassment are rife, and social media fatigue is common. Existing community structures, creativity and emerging media remain important for youth participatory civic networks in Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Communities, local neighbourhoods, private and public spaces, and commercial media cultures vie for position in young people’s social worlds and civic identities.

Contested and Under Pressure: A Snapshot of the Enabling Environment of Civil Society in 22 Countries (CIVICUS 2017)

Between 2013 and 2016, civil society in 22 countries carried out an Enabling Environment National Assessment (EENA). The EENA is a civil society-led process that analyses the extent to which national conditions enable the work of civil society.
The EENA analysis explores in particular how laws and regulations relating to civil society are implemented in practice, and how they impact on civil society. The assessments, led by national civil society partners, employed a common methodology that encompassed interviews with key stakeholders, consultations, focus groups and desk research. In every country, six core dimensions were assessed: the ability of civil society groups to form, operate and access resources -all aspects of the freedom of association – plus the freedoms of peaceful assembly
and expression, and relations between civil society and governments.
Overall the EENA assessments reveal a picture of an environment for civil society that is volatile, contested and often under pressure, but also with some optimism in some contexts about the potential for progress.

After the Arab uprisings – prospects for a media that serves the public (BBC Media Action Policy Briefing, 2015)

This briefing explores the evolving relationship between media and politics in the period following the Arab uprisings of 2011.

Overview: Over the past several years, the Arab world has been characterised by an increasingly polarised political discourse. ‘After the Arab uprisings: the prospects for a media that serves the public’ argues that national broadcasters have the potential to help to bridge some of these social divides if these institutions can be reformed to serve public, rather than state, interests. To make this case, the briefing looks at four countries undergoing political change – Libya, Egypt, Lebanon and Tunisia – to examine the potential for national broadcasters to play a role that is more explicitly geared towards social cohesion.

The briefing finds that:

  • National broadcasters can fulfil a public service mission by instilling the twin public service values of universality and diversity into their programming, underpinned by a clear commitment to editorial independence.
  • Formats that enable inclusive dialogue, rational debate and clear and trusted information can, at least in theory, mitigate conflict by facilitating tolerance, mutual understanding and representation.
  • In all four cases, while the potential to deliver such programming is there, its ultimate realisation hinges critically on a politically enabling environment that does not, by and large, yet exist.

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