IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX

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Year Two: • 2,824 local government representatives used IATP services, with 1,421 completing training • 850 NGO officials used IATP services, with 571 completing training • 1,430 librarians used IATP services, and 1,015 completed training • 1,042 private entrepreneurs used IATP services, with 343 completing training • 373 media officials used IATP services, with 340 completing training Since June 2007, with every target group except NGO representatives (where IATP served almost exactly the number targeted), IREX exceeded its combined year one and two target outputs. In looking at the combined total of the two year outputs, IATP services were utilized by 150% more local government representatives and librarians than anticipated and more than twice as many entrepreneurs took advantage of IATP centers than expected. One hundred and thirty percent more media representatives also utilized IATP services through training or internet access in the last 30 months. Of these 16,923 users, IREX trained 9,260 within these target audiences alone over the last two years—an average of over 300 per month. Government Representatives Cooperation with local governments aimed at enabling officials to better respond to citizen needs and increase the transparency of government activities. Since June 2007, 6,800 local government representatives (2,300 more than the targeted 4500) used IATP center facilities and over 3,900 completed IATP technical training. “Conducting market research online and receiving business offers via the internet is very fast and convenient, as compared to making expensive international calls and using postal services. Beginning in February, I stopped making international calls and using postal services for marketing purposes, which has saved a lot of my work time and money for the Ministry.” engineer, Ministry of Energy, Turkmenistan A good example of cooperation with government officials is IATP’s mobile training for nine press secretaries from Tajikistan government bodies in August 2008. Representatives from three government entities (the Supreme Court, the Drug Control Agency, and the Committee on Economy, Budget, Finance, and Tax), as well as representatives from the Tajik National Bank and some media organizations received training on how to write effective press releases. The training addressed unique communication challenges and the means of solving them, such as writing press releases in the Tajik language without using Tajik characters. 1 Officials from the Turkmenistan Ministry of Energy also learned to use computers and internet at the IATP center in Ashgabat to conduct low-cost yet effective online marketing research. After the Turkmen Ministry of Energy was computerized and all its departments were connected to the internet in 2008, it requested that IATP train its employees in ICT skills—since most had neither the experience nor the skills to implement ICT in their daily work. In January and February 2009, 15 employees from the Ministry’s departments, including mechanical engineering, power-supervision, petroleum-based fuels and transport, and instrument construction, became familiarized with the internet for the first time. Since the training, the government officials have begun using the internet to learn more about the electricity industry in other countries, establish contact with international suppliers, and began communicating via e-mail with international partners, saving money for their departments. As a result of the Ministry employees’ ability to conduct market research online and follow up with international suppliers, the Ministry is now acquiring a better supply of electricity from a plant in Nizhgorod, Russia (http://iatpnews.typepad.com/iatp/2009/03/ turkmenistan-ministry-of-energy-officials-learn-to-work-efficiently-online.html). 1 For more information, see IATP Interim Report, June 2007-December 2008 (http://www.irex.org/programs/iatp/iatp_me.asp ) 10
NGO Officials IATP also partnered with NGO officials to equip them to use modern tools in their civil society development work. Since June 2007, 2,542 NGO officials (42 more than the targeted 2,500) utilized IATP centers across Eurasia with over 1,200 of them receiving technical training from IATP. In October-November 2008 the Azerbaijan-wide youth movement IRELI sent ten of their most active members to IATP training in a series of courses in computer and internet research, MS Office program applications, and Web 2.0 technologies. As a result of the training, the young people enhanced the organization’s website (www.ireli.az) by editing and uploading photos of their activities. 2 The Moldovan NGO Equality, also launched a website with IATP assistance and now more effectively publicizes its services to the community. NGO member and IATP graduate Andrei Borshevski created a website for the organization in April 2009. Equality, located in Comrat, Moldova, seeks to defend the legal rights of women (and particularly young women), promote greater female representation in government, increase women’s access to education, and combat female human trafficking. Despite their attempts to meet the many needs of local women, Equality staff had difficulty publicizing specific services to target groups in a clear manner. They knew the internet could help but their original website had problems with unwanted commercial advertising, pop-up windows, and reliability. With Equality’s new, easy-to-use website, however, individuals and groups can now find relevant information pertaining to their issues and concerns. They can also contact Equality’s staff and board of directors, whether seeking direct help or partnership opportunities. Borshevski’s IATP-taught skills thus opened up new avenues of communication among the NGO’s clients and partners. As Borshevski noted, “As a volunteer at this NGO, I had the chance to develop this site, but it would have been impossible without all the skills and knowledge that I obtained during the courses I took at IATP. When I first came to IATP, I didn’t know anything about working with the computer” (http://iatpnews.typepad.com/ iatp/2009/05/comrat-ngo-communicates-moreeffectively-with-ict-2.html). few short months, the NGO had established partnerships with seven schools to conduct training for students. By the end of 2009, the association will have completed training for almost 900 students in Tbilisi. "We knew a website was an effective way to communicate with customers and stakeholders …But honestly, we had no idea how much it would impact our NGO and so soon after its creation,” explained YTPA Executive Director Nana Chopliani. “Thanks to our website, we have established many relationships with new partners. It’s such a great start for us and we’re so grateful that we had the opportunity through IATP to do this” (http:// iatpnews.typepad.com/iatp/2009/10/when-thengo-young-teachers-and-psychologists-associationytpa-httpytpageiatpnet-in-tbilisi-georgia-put-theirne.html#more). Media Professionals Journalists were also a target of IREX as key players in the democratic reform process. Since June 2007, 879 media professionals (179 more than the year two target of 700) visited IATP centers throughout Eurasia and over 500 participated in IATP technical training. Journalist Yuriy Sikorsky from Vinnytsia, Ukraine, created a website during IATP training about Ukraine’s potential integration into NATO. Sikorsky’s website, “NATO: Ukrainian Briefing”, receives about 500 visitors a month and serves as an information resource on the origins of NATO, the current NATO-Ukraine partnership, and the potential consequences of Ukraine formally joining the alliance. With IATP assistance, Sikorsky continues to design and update his website with the latest information. 3 Galina Ponomarvova is a visually-impaired journalist from Donetsk, Ukraine. Before IATP training, she still prepared her articles on an old typewriter, making it difficult to meet deadlines for her assignments. After receiving training at a Ukrainian IATP center she now she uses a computer with special software to not only improve the efficiency of her writing but also to open a world of online research. “I couldn’t even imagine that one day I would be able to use modern information technologies to perform my job duties so much more easily,” remarked Ponomaryova. When the new NGO Young Teachers and Psychologists Association (YTPA) (http://ytpa.ge.iatp.net) in Tbilisi, Georgia, put their newly created website online after IATP training in early 2009, they did not anticipate the number of new contacts and opportunities it would generate for the association. In a 2 For more information, see IATP Interim Report, June 2007-December 2008 (http://www.irex.org/programs/iatp/iatp_me.asp ) 3 For more information, see IATP Interim Report, June 2007-December 2008 (http://www.irex.org/programs/iatp/iatp_me.asp ) IATP also trained journalists in Belarus, where knowledge of and access to modern technology is still scarce. Most reporters in Belarus still rely on phone conversations to obtain information from 11
Page 1 and 2: INTERNET ACCESS AND TRAINING PROGRA
Page 3 and 4: Executive summary .................
Page 5 and 6: I. INTRODUCTION IATP aimed to spur
Page 7 and 8: IATP users coming to IATP centers i
Page 9: IV. OBJECTIVE 1: Citizens are Empow
Page 13 and 14: Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs have pr
Page 15 and 16: 6 Midline focus group discussion re
Page 17 and 18: Implementation of knowledge and ski
Page 19 and 20: Thanks to IATP’s assistance and r
Page 21 and 22: IATP center contacts where they can
Page 23 and 24: Libraries were also sometimes menti
Page 25 and 26: F. IATP Responds to Internally Disp
Page 27 and 28: G. IATP Empowers Youth in Turkmenis
Page 29 and 30: During the focus group she announce
Page 31 and 32: Year One : • 61 in-country online
Page 33 and 34: Natalya Polyakova, a 51-year-old do
Page 35 and 36: Objective 3 Outcomes : Year One:
Page 37 and 38: Living with HIV/AIDS (network.org.u
Page 39 and 40: ment. The deputy decided to provide
Page 41 and 42: Tajik.” Through IATP’s free tec
Page 43 and 44: VIII. CONCLUSIONS A.Summary of Find
Page 45: there still is a need for free, qua

IATP Monitoring and Evaluation Report - IREX

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