Country or Region: Global
Sector: Public Policy
Client: European Commission – Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI)
The Partnership Instrument (PI) is a key instrument for financing EU external action. Designed to advance and promote EU and mutual interests abroad, the PI promotes a more joined-up Union by supporting the external projection of EU internal policies, ranging from competitiveness and migration to research and innovation. One area covered by the PI is Public Diplomacy (including cultural diplomacy), along with the outreach activities to promote the Union’s values and interests that go hand-in-hand.
Public Diplomacy is one of the PI´s main objectives, which consists of a long-term engagement aiming at building trust and mutual understanding by engaging with selected audiences in partner countries (i.e. students/academics, multipliers/influencers, civil society and cultural operators/artists) in a more meaningful way on issues that resonate most at the local level. In particular, it aims to increase understanding of EU views, policies and priorities; to promote the EU’s values and interests; and to improve the perception of the EU and of its policies.
This project takes the form of an evaluation, primarily aimed at assessing the performance of Public Diplomacy actions funded under the Partnership Instrument. The main formalised objectives are to provide the relevant services of the European Union and the interested stakeholders with the following:
- An overall independent assessment of the past performance of the PI funded actions relevant to Public Diplomacy, paying particular attention to their approach, the coherence of the approach taken in different countries, intermediate or final results measured against expected objectives; and the reasons underpinning such results.
- Key lessons learned, conclusions and related recommendations in-order-to improve current and future Actions, specifically concerning the approach taken to EU public diplomacy taken to influence the EU image effectively.
