Tools & Resources

Impact:
IFES's Engaged Citizens course launched in 2021 at three universities throughout Armenia. Since the launch of the course, the course has expanded into five additional universities. The cohort of alumni of the course is 80 percent women. To date, student action projects have been given funding through international embassies and have allowed students to advocate for community improvements with the Prime Minister.

Impact:
IFES’s Democracy: From Theory to Practice university course gives students a theoretical background in democracy through the SEED methodology and practical and hands-on experience as students conduct projects and research fellowships. Over 160 students have taken part in the course to date through the University of Dhaka. IFES expects to expand the course to a second university in 2023 and up to five additional universities throughout Bangladesh through 2025. The course has been complemented by programming through the Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) network, expanding beyond 13 public universities and over 1,600 students across all divisions of Bangladesh. IFES continues to mobilize existing SAVE participants through advanced trainings and community-based assignments. Additional webinars and online events, as well as campaigns for safe and inclusive campuses both offline and online, provide much-needed opportunities for education and student activism.

Impact:
Course evaluations have yielded encouraging results on all measures—course instructor interviews and surveys, student surveys and focus groups, classroom observations, and pre-and post-tests. The results demonstrated that students gained knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to effectively monitor and hold the government and members of society accountable to principles of democracy in the digital age.
Using skills developed in the course, since 2021, alumni have gone on to intern at Ukrainian institutions like the Central Election Commission and National Agency on Corruption Prevention. Beyond the knowledge and the skills developed, students also demonstrated a desire to be active citizens. The course alumni organization Youth Democratic Association (YODA) and IFES have organized several extra-curricular activities, such as the DemVision action project competition, DemoGRAtia interactive game, and social media DemTalk events to support current students and maintain a robust and active alumni community. Furthermore, in April 2022 IFES helped establish the Civic Educators Association to help build the capacity of and support course educators.

Impact:
Course evaluations have demonstrated that course students and alumni experienced a positive transformation in their perceptions and understandings of the rights and roles of persons with disabilities and minorities; applied skills developed through course experiences to academic, professional, and civic endeavors; possessed a strong sense of efficacy toward their ability to affect change; and were committed to the realization of the principles of democracy for all Georgians. Many alumni went on to become civil society leaders, addressing problems in their communities and becoming champions for democracy in Georgia long after the course. With an eye to sustainability, IFES also supported the establishment of the Civic Education Lectures Association (CELA), which is a network of civic educators that represent the majority of accredited universities across the country; CELA currently maintains Georgia’s SEED curriculum. IFES has since partnered with Georgia’s Ministry of Education to expand civic education offerings to vocational education institutions.

Data Release Infographic on Voters in the Jakarta Area

Youth with disabilities participate in a conference activity.