Civil society and media whole-of-intermediate result (IR) evaluation

This report presents findings and recommendations from the whole-of-Intermediate Result (IR) evaluation of activities generated from the USAID Civil Society and Media Project Appraisal Document (PAD) created in 2015. The evaluation included two current activities?Liberia Accountability and Voice Initiative (LAVI) and Liberia Media Development (LMD)?and incorporated information and interviews from the Civil Society and Media Leadership (CSML) activity, which predated the PAD. The evaluation determined how USAID activities made progress toward achieving the Project Purpose?Increased influence of citizens in the governance of public goods and services?and provided recommendations to inform development of a future Civil Society and Media strategy.

The evaluation found that the PAD contributed to increasing opportunities for civil society organizations (CSOs) and media outlets to play a ?watchdog? role over governance. However, evidence is lacking that (1) CSOs can sustain the coalition approach beyond current USAID support, (2) CSOs can use the coalition approach to mobilize citizens more broadly to engage with government decision makers, and (3) media outlets can increase the quality of news and information disseminated to citizens.

Critical gaps exist in making connections among the three stakeholder groups within governance accountability systems: (1) Political Leaders, (2) CSOs and Media Outlets, and (3) Citizens. A key priority for a future PAD would be to create interactive information and activity loops that better connect political leaders to citizens, using CSO coalitions and media outlets as channels through which citizens directly engage with government institutions.