Project: Engendering democratic governance in South Asia
Evaluation Date: May 2012
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The local level Watch Groups and meetings created evidence and data on the status of women in grassroots democratic institutions which was used by the National Watch Groups built on the local data with analysis of the situation in national politics and democratic institutions. This provided a significant evidence-based advocacy platform, which was then reinforced and supplemented by newspaper features, radio profiles and debates, generated by the media people who had gone through the training.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan   , ,
Project: Citizens' Platform for Democratic Debates & Dialogues in Afghanistan
Evaluation Date: December 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Limited evidence obtained from baseline research compromised the general objective of the project. This meant that the project design showed a poor understanding of the broad project context and political landscape which led to missed learning opportunities, and failure to map stakeholders and to allocate resources optimally. Duplication of efforts of other actors in Afghanistan wasted the grantee’s opportunity to complement other media democracy effects.

Theme: Media
Afghanistan   ,
Project: Campaign for Stressing Community Concerns and Seeking Political Resolutions in the South and South Centre of Iraq
Evaluation Date: December 2012
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

A particularly innovative feature of the project was planning, implementing and using the findings from a large-scale public opinion survey, based on a random sample of 3,000 individuals, drawn from the population in the nine target provinces in Iraq. The report on the survey provided essential input to discussions on local priorities, in particular how to use non-violent methods in dispute resolution. The use of this survey was a positive factor in the success of three of the major, sequential activities of the project: the local focus groups, civic forums and provincial conferences.

Theme: Rule of law
Iraq   ,
Project: Promoting Women's Participation in Local Budgetary Processes
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The project in Niger has empowered women through giving them skills to analyse budges based on the issues that affect their daily life. However, gender responsive budget analysis alone does not change budget priorities and the decision-making process in ways that truly promote gender equality. Municipal budgets are still a political product and budgetary commitments are allocated according to political priorities. Relevant decision makers could be addressed through evidence-based round-table discussions and lobbying.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Niger   ,
Project: Rural Media Development for Promoting Democracy and Human Rights
Evaluation Date: November 2017
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The grantee collected rich and interesting data but was let down by not analyzing this data sufficiently to provide evidence of progress. Moreover, the overall M&E system needed more coherence, so that projects are able to measure the same indicators at the beginning and the end to show progress. This could have been done in various ways, for instance, by using the same framework for baseline and endline data collection, or by pre and post training questionnaires.

Theme: Media
Bangladesh   , ,
Project: Democracy for Women’s Rights in Sindh, Pakistan
Evaluation Date: October 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Evidence collected during interviews and group discussions, and as self-reported by the grantee, indicated that women’s new-found confidence to exercise their democratic rights was sensitive to the attitudes and decisions of their male relatives. If this confidence does not get translated into actual democratic participation the motivation of the women involved may weaken.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Pakistan   ,
Project: Coalition against Poverty: Oil Revenue under Public Oversight
Evaluation Date: April 2013
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Anecdotal evidence suggested that highlighting contradictions between constitutional or legal principles and the current operations of many local and regional institutions in Kazakhstan has raised civic awareness. While impact on corporate policy or behaviour was not measured it was widely believed that the challenging approach taken – if supported by bilateral donors – would not have been welcome in this isolated environment remote from Western influence.

Theme: Community activism
Kazakhstan   ,