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Project: Civil Sector Capacity Building Initiative in Kazakhstan
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Anecdotally, although the project did increase the visibility of the concept of NGO accountability through the workshops – which were publicized in the media – the concept of accountability was defined in such narrow terms that the results of the project were mainly found at a very low level specifically in the production of annual reports by each of the subgrantees.

Theme: Community activism

Kazakhstan Accountability, reporting

Project: Enabling Women to Participate in Sustainable Water Management in Armenia
Evaluation Date: November 2021
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

In transitioning societies with the control and accountability mechanisms under development having tangible assets delivered, strategic position-holders interested, and locally recognized agents of change with multiplication potential involved are important to ensure the target population’s immediate interest, as well as the longer-term sense of ownership to be developed and the sustainability of the project to be achieved. Whenever possible, adding the beneficiary financial contribution element, such as community funds, can help in enhancing the sense of ownership and accountability for public expenditures and improving processes for public consultation in development planning.

Theme: Women's empowerment, Interaction with government

Armenia Accountability, beneficiaries, change, community, decentralize, finance, financial, fund, long-term, ownership, planning, stakeholder, sustainability, sustainable, target

Project: Fostering Ethical Democracy and Advancing Micro Justice in India
Evaluation Date: September 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

It is easy for nongovernmental organisations who are focusing their efforts
on promoting the greater accountability of government and the private
sector to forget that they in turn have an accountability to the
beneficiaries they serve, particularly where projects are funded by public
money. It is important to ensure the institution of effective complaints
mechanisms to enable beneficiary feedback.

Theme: Rule of law

India Accountability, beneficiaries

Project: Rural Media Development for Promoting Democracy and Human Rights
Evaluation Date: November 2017
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The training gave a wide understanding of all dimensions of human rights, both civil-political and socio-economic rights. This led to a rich and interesting diversity in articles produced by journalists. While this was interesting some participants had a tendency to equate all human interest stories and criminal acts to human rights stories (for instance, the abduction of a new born baby from a hospital ward by a disturbed individual or a case of a child murdered by a private individual) but without making clear links to the accountability and responsibility of duty bearers.

Theme: Media

Bangladesh Accountability, human rights

Project: Promoting democratic and human rights values among Rwandan youth
Evaluation Date: February 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project design did not explicitly outline what it meant by empowering young people to engage in “democratic processes”. In practice, the project encouraged its beneficiaries to raise concerns and consult with the authorities at local level and to debate issues of concern but there was little emphasis on citizens’ right to demand accountability from government.

Theme: Youth engagement

Rwanda Accountability, design, youth

Project: Creative Communication of the Nigerian Budget
Evaluation Date: July 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Involving the media in monitoring public works worked well. Using the media helped empower communities with simplified budget information which they used to demand accountability from their parliamentarians. The media was viewed as a key contributor of information in real time and an avenue through which budget information could be disseminated widely to a large audience.

Theme: Media

Nigeria Accountability, budget, media

Project: Addressing Ghana’s Governance Deficits through Constitutional Reform
Evaluation Date: December 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The county/local level can be a more effective playing field on which to make improvements to government transparency and accountability. Not only are county/local level efforts more attainable than changes to national ones, but they often have more direct and bigger impacts on citizens lives on a day to day basis. This strategy can be made even more effective by making requests for these improvements in the run-up to election proccesses. These commitments can in turn be used to hold officials accountable when in office.

Theme: Rule of law

Liberia Accountability, local, local government, transparency

Project: Civil Sector Capacity Building Initiative in Kazakhstan
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The concept of accountability is important and needed in a context where many NGOs seek government funding to provide services. There is a need to ensure that NGOs in Kazakhstan are linked to their beneficiaries and for all NGOs to realize they need to be as accountable as they are asking their government to be. This would also include clarifying the NGOs’ vision and mission, developing their consultative structures and processes, and adopting integrity standards and regular public reporting processes.

Theme: Community activism

Kazakhstan Accountability, consultation, integrity

Project: Nigeria Procurement Monitoring Project
Evaluation Date: April 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project’s internet portal that made it easy to upload monitoring reports and share information played an important role. In preparation for the design of the portal, the project also supported the peer review and updating of the existing monitoring checklist and reporting template. The development of the portal is regarded as an important achievement, not only by civil society, but also by government regulatory bodies and international donors, including the World Bank, UNDP and PACT Nigeria.

Theme: Interaction with government

Nigeria Accountability, technology

Project: Civil Society Monitoring of Governorate Councils in Iraq
Evaluation Date: August 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Although factors like the security situation in Iraq made it difficult to probe the impact of the intervention, significant advances were made in short-term government responsiveness and transparency to the public. The grantee published Annual Monitoring Reports to highlight the gap between public expectations and the actual performance of the Governorate Councils. These were circulated widely and managed to attract considerable interest from the mass media and senior government officials. In response, several of the participating Governorates Councils devoted greater efforts to transparency and providing information to the public. Further, the central government expressed their interest in expanding civil society monitoring to all provinces in the country.

Theme: Interaction with government

Iraq Accountability, media

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