Democracy, Governance and Social Transition
 New Media and International Media Development: A Resource Guide for Europe and Eurasia
USAID supports independent media development to ensure that citizens have access to a variety of important sources of news and that information. Digital technologies are fundamentally altering the way individuals access news. Increasing levels of internet penetration in developing countries, the growing use of mobile devices for news and information messaging, and the proliferation of blogs and social networking sites have all created new ways to get and share information. Collectively, these technologies refer to emerging “new media”—a term used here to refer to digital technologies that are both collaborative and dynamic, allowing users to access and direct information to others over the internet or through mobile devices. New media technologies and trends are changing so rapidly that many media assistance professionals—even those with years of experience—have a limited understanding of these new developments or their possible utility and importance. This paper offers a “taking stock” evaluation of current trends, provides a comprehensive glossary of new media terminology, and identifies key issues and additional resources useful for media assistance projects. Read the Resource Guide (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 516kb) ...
 Media Sustainability Index
The Media Sustainability Index (MSI) is a joint project of USAID and the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX). Funded by USAID and developed by IREX, the MSI measures five key indicators of media systems in twenty different countries and provinces in the E&E region. USAID has funded the MSI since 2001, with media indicators generally paralleling other democracy indicators in the region, showing substantial progress in eastern Europe; some incremental progress in the Caucasus and Ukraine; and, for the most part, considerable backsliding in Russia, Belarus and Central Asia. The MSI is used by government officials, scholars, non-governmental organizations and private enterprises to monitor one of the key features of democratic society, the existence (or non-existence) of an independent, objective and professional media system.
To read this year’s Index and past editions, visit http://www.irex.org/programs/MSI_EUR.
 Nations
in Transit
Nations in Transit, an annual publication by Freedom House and funded by
USAID measuring progress and setbacks in political transition in Central
and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. This is the ninth edition
of the report, which continues to cover 27 countries (including all graduation
countries), and provides in-depth analysis of electoral processes; civil
society; independent media; governance; constitutional, legislative and judicial
framework; and corruption. Visit the website ...
 NGO Sustainability Index
The annual NGO Sustainability Index is the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia's
premier instrument for gauging the strength and continued viability of
the region's NGO sectors. The Index analyses seven different dimensions
of the NGO sector: legal environment, organizational capacity, financial
viability, advocacy, public image, service provision, and NGO infrastructure.
Taken together, these dimensions provide a basic description of what a
sustainable NGO sector should look like. Individually, these dimensions
provide Missions, implementing partners and other international donors
with a reasonable measure of impact over time, and a basis for identifying
both needs and opportunities in a strategic planning process. See the Indexes ...
 Health Vulnerability Analysis
The 2007 Europe and Eurasia Health Vulnerability
Analysis identifies those countries in USAID’s
Europe and Eurasia (E&E) region where health
status is the poorest and where the transition to democracy
and free-market economies may be most vulnerable
because of health factors. The analysis also highlights
health issues that may warrant special or increased attention
by United States Government (USG) policymakers.
The seminal analysis of this type was conducted in
2003; this is the fifth in an annual exercise to provide
USG policymakers and USAID health staff in E&E
countries an overview of health status and vulnerability
in the region. Read the Analysis (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 5.87mb) ...
Section 508-compliant data from the 2007 Health Vulnerability Analysis (Adobe Acrobat PDF, 2.45mb) ...
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