Lesson Browser | Lessons Learned

Home
Lesson Browser
About
Feedback
UNDEF

Project: Citizen Empowerment for the Promotion of Good Governance and Participatory Democracy in Algeria
Evaluation Date: January 2022
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

States officials, especially local authorities, need capacity building on the concepts, mechanisms, and tools of good local governance to modernise and improve public services and better engage citizens in local development.

Theme: Interaction with government

Algeria administration, community, engagement, government, innovate, innovation, participants, regional, resources, strategy

Project: Promoting Active Participation of Civil Society in Environmental Governance
Evaluation Date: December 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Despite the existence of an integration plan, no official decision had been taken by the Vietnam Institute of Human rights and the Academy of Politics and Public administration about the launch of a human-rights based environmental protection course. Both the grantee and officials were unable to present evidence that the achievements made by the UNDEF project are politically supported, either by the Party’s Central Committee or the Board of Academy of Politics and Public Administration. This experience highlights that applying an all-inclusive partnership approach, to the extent possible, is vital for the achievement of democracy development project objectives.

Theme: Community activism

Viet Nam government

Project: Promoting Active Participation of Civil Society in Environmental Governance
Evaluation Date: December 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Projects supporting training of trainers on human rights in Vietnam should make sure that the Board of the National Academy of Politics and Public Administration include human rights in the training manual in accordance with the priority setting of the country’s political hierarchy.

Theme: Community activism

Viet Nam government, training

Project: Youth Partnership for Improved Budgetary Governance in Lebanese Municipalities: Musharaka
Evaluation Date: October 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Since the project was designed to strengthen democratic processes, the workshops for the beneficiary groups should have provided more detailed information on rights. The project’s main priority was a needs-centered approach. What was absent was the perspective that access to public information, the monitoring of transparency in public administration, and good governance are the inherent rights of citizen that do not depend on the good will and acceptance of local authorities.

Theme: Youth engagement

Lebanon Accountability, governance, rights

Project: Fostering the Electoral Participation of Internally Displaced Persons in Georgia
Evaluation Date: November 2021
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Along with the multiyear experience and expertise in the field, the two main preconditions for the successful accomplishment of the project were the team’s political impartiality and decentralization of efforts. In transitioning societies, where democratic institutions are not yet fully mature and division between public administration and the ruling force is still not clear, being politically unaffiliated is crucially important for a project team to ensure the project’s success, especially when it regards projects promoting participation in elections.

Theme: Community activism

Georgia credibility, decentralize, democracy, elections, participation, political, reform

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

Lesson Learned:

Grantees should assess financial risks to the project well in advance of implementation, especially the inflation rate. In financially volatile situations, be cautious about setting very ambitious targets and instead seek to deepen rather than broaden project engagements. This is especially important for activities that involve a high level of travel and administration at field level as these costs tend to inflate the budget, lending it inadequate for the entire funding period.

Theme: Media

Nigeria budgeting, Inflation, Risks

Project: Strengthening Human Rights Protection Through Legal Education in Haiti
Evaluation Date: June 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Grantees must be transparent with donors and target audience, sharing important information that can affect the implementation of the project, clearly explaining to the participating organizations in which framework the activities are based and which objectives they have. This requires a strong executive capacity that can manage by results. It should also involve a larger number of staff / members in project evaluation processes; and share evaluation reports with all its members to promote collective learning. Actions should be properly planned and documented using electronic records (administration and programmatic content) of implemented projects.

Theme: Rule of law

Haiti donors, evaluation, information, management

Project: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo
Evaluation Date: October 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project led to successful collaborations between civil society organizations and the legal offices of the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government Administration. This improved the flow of information and quality of public consultations. There was an impressive range of participation from civil society and government, and they worked on a wide range of issues and regulations and legislation.

Theme: Community activism

Kosovo collaboration, government

Project: Citizen Participation to Improve Local Governance
Evaluation Date: January 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project introduced Citizen Participation Cells (CPC), whose members were involved in all phases of the project, including setting-up the CPCs, validating of the CPCs’ workload, identifying problems within their own municipalities and issues to raise with local administration and elected officials.

Theme: Community activism

Benin inclusion

Project: Supporting civic participation of grassroots communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Evaluation Date: June 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Members of the project’s Democratic Action Clubs (DACs) have more awareness of their rights and are more likely to identify future abuses of power by the administration. The project also resulted in participants being better informed about legal remedies available to them. Elected officials who took part in public debates noted that some DAC members had boldly and publicly criticized police violence and corruption.

Theme: Rule of law

Democratic Republic of the Congo Accountability, post-conflict, rights

Subscribe to UNDEF Newsletter

Privacy Policy
Terms of Use