An independent evaluation of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), conducted by Aleph Strategies between October 2024 and March 2025, has assessed the MFC’s performance during its first five years, from its establishment in July 2019 to late 2024.
The review aimed to evaluate the MFC’s contributions to media freedom and journalist safety, examine stakeholder coordination, assess the sustainability of its outcomes, and offer recommendations.
The evaluation team conducted an in-depth document review, on online survey, and 67 remote interviews from representatives of 52 organisations and institutions, including MFC member countries, and representatives of the Consultative Network, High Level Panel and UNESCO among others. They also conducted two field visits to gain a deeper understanding of local-level engagement.
The evaluation highlighted some “notable contributions” that the MFC has made to media freedom and journalist safety since its inception.
According to the report, the MFC “has played a role in encouraging some Member States to strengthen their media freedom policies and legislation. The MFC has also influenced state actors through diplomatic and advocacy efforts, maintaining high-level political attention on media freedom.
“Direct interventions, legal guidance, and engagement with embassy networks have contributed to journalist protection efforts at the local level. Furthermore, the MFC has strengthened multi-stakeholder coordination.”
The evaluation report also highlighted several areas for improvement. These included the lack of “a structured approach for supporting and tracking commitments” among member states, the need to strengthen knowledge management and information-sharing, and the potential for a focus on high-profile cases to overshadow broader, systemic media freedom challenges.
The report concludes with ten key recommendations which include enhancing the MFC’s impact and operational effectiveness, enhancing visibility and strategic communications, and improving engagement with journalists and media workers.
