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Project: Engaging civil society and youth in public policy dialogue in North Africa
Evaluation Date: September 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

There was an imbalance in funding between Morocco and Tunisia, and project management was not sufficiently collegial. More than 75% of the project funding was devoted to activities in Morocco, leaving only about 25% for Tunisia. A more balanced approach to funding between the two countries would have been desirable, particularly in view of the needs in Tunisia in the post “Arab Spring” context.

Theme: Youth engagement

Morocco, Tunisia funding, regional

Project: Media and art as catalysts for free speech and access to information in Jordan
Evaluation Date: January 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

There were concerns about the sustainability of the project’s outcomes as well as the sustainability of the grantee itself. The grantee’s institutional funding model is project-focused and no serious consideration seems to have been given to diversifying funding sources or raising income in other ways. Without project funding, there are many ‘down times’ that lead the volunteers becoming disillusioned and websites become dated.

Theme: Media

Jordan funding, sustainability

Project: Pour une Diplomatie Non Gouvernementale
Evaluation Date: March 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project activities had an impact on those platforms and NGOs that were directly involved but it is not clear how the platforms and networks will be sustainable in the longer term given the lack of a strategic fundraising approach. The grantee needs to search for alternative and diversified sources of funding to ensure continuity of the activities and optimization of the effects and impact of the initiatives undertaken.

Theme: Community activism

Brazil, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Morocco, Senegal, United States of America funding, platform, sustainability

Project: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement
Evaluation Date: August 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The evaluators believed that the grantee cannot simply continue advocacy actions but must put in place a strategy and work plan that reflect the needs of its members and that might include actions – like training and information processes – that donors would consider funding.

Theme: Community activism

Angola, Bhutan, Cambodia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Nepal, Senegal, Solomon Islands, Tanzania, United Republic of, Tuvalu, Uganda, Vanuatu, Zambia advocacy, funding, strategy

Project: Strengthening Democratic Processes for Bangsamoro Government in Lanao Lake Watershed Reservation in the Philippines
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The fact that the grantee and its implementing partner failed to devise a strategy to secure additional resources for the capacity building of those barangay officials not covered by the project, has left the Institute for Environmental Governance (IEG) without a clear work plan and direction. Mindanao State University has yet to fully integrate IEG in its strategic planning; and to raise IEG’s planning capacity to enable it to elaborate annual work plans, which are backed by a permanent donor screening activity that identifies potential sources of funding to support its training programme for those barangays not yet covered by the project. It is necessary to integrate previous and future trainees, to ensure the continued participatory development, implementation, and actual monitoring of the region’s local and area-wide environmental action plans.

Theme: Interaction with government

Philippines funding, partnerships, sustainability

Project: Empowering Civil Society Groups to Promote Social Accountability
Evaluation Date: June 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project worked constructively to draw attention to deficiencies in governance in Papua, and contributed to building a broader awareness of social accountability and what it entails. There was potential for the project to have a catalytic effect. As the grantee represented a highly-credible, mainstream Indonesian policy research institution, it would have been in a position to facilitate dialogue between government and civil society in Papua in a way that locally-based organizations might find more difficult. Had it managed to secure additional funding, lessons learned from the project could have represented a beginning rather than an end.

Theme: Community activism

Indonesia funding, sustainability

Project: Youth as Agents of Democratic Change through Knowledge and Information Acquisition and Exchange in Laos
Evaluation Date: June 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

There is an over-reliance among project beneficiaries on external funding due to a lack of foresight by donor and implementing partner which results in an expectation that the costs for material needs of both the youth and teachers involved in environmental and other locally relevant action research will be paid for by others.
Therefore the grantee needs to involve the Ministry in developing a strategy providing an appropriate response to the participating schools’ basic material needs. Indicatively, such strategy could foresee shared financing by the Ministry (e.g. for pencils, pens, paper) and by the participating schools. The latter could consider selling the products generated during indigenous knowledge education sessions, thus creating revolving funds covering future needs.

Theme: Youth engagement

Lao People's Democratic Republic donor, funding, strategy

Project: Women Can Do It – Balanced Participation in Decision-Making
Evaluation Date: September 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Funding for NGOs in Modova will remain a continuing challenge. However, the grantee succeeded in building a strong, organizational capacity through developing a roster of experts with the practical skills and experience to take forward the agenda of achieving balanced participation of women and men in decision-making.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Moldova, Republic of funding, sustainability

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

Lesson Learned:

Following the completion of the project, the Vietnam Institute for Human Rights required external support to train future trainers at the provincial and district-level officials and civil servants. The withdrawal of support from the Institute after the end of the project could have been predicted.

Theme: Community activism

Viet Nam funding, sustainability

Project: Strengthening Democratic Participation Among Indigenous Peoples of Oaxaca, Mexico
Evaluation Date: May 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

While the grantee had a clearly defined mission and institutional objectives it lacked a strategic plan that enabled it to clearly define its interventions and the budget needed to implement them in the short, medium, and long term. Up to now the NGO has been funded entirely with donor resources. This poses a risk to its sustainability, given the changing international cooperation priorities and the current adverse environment of budgetary constraints facing all donors.

Theme: Community activism

Mexico funding, sustainability

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