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Project: Empowering Vulnerable People through Internet: E-Learning Initiative for Young Migrant Workers in China
Evaluation Date: April 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

In the sphere of social media, the grantee assisted the trainees in establishing micro-blog and instant messaging accounts with well-known service providers in China. A small number of the trainees, drawn from the ranks of the Focal Points, emerged as young labour leaders, playing important roles in organizing their colleagues to petition employers and local government on specific labour grievances, and, at times, mobilizing other YMWs to take part in strike or protest action.

Theme: Tools for knowledge

China leaders, work, youth

Project: Improving Maya Women's Access to Justice in Rural Guatemala
Evaluation Date: March 2022
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Community leaders can be important gate keepers for justice services. Community leaders often decide whether a case of VAWG should be reported to authorities outside the community, can be perpetrators of VAWG themselves, and yield high levels of influence in community perceptions of violence tolerance. These leaders need to be engaged meaningfully and strategically so that they, at a minimum, do not block justice processes.

Theme: Women's empowerment, Rule of law

Guatemala Access, aid, attitude, barrier, decision making, engagement, gender, perspective, power, prevent, rights, SGBV, views, women

Project: Education and Training of Youth for Democracy in Burkina Faso
Evaluation Date: June 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The grantee was not able to provide indicators related to the number of leaders trained who voted; and no information was available to assess the impact of the messages delivered to the youth by the young trained leaders. In this respect, the grantee was very optimistic to consider that increasing knowledge would be sufficient to motivate and mobilize the young leaders, and by extension, the youth of Burkina Faso to vote.

Theme: Youth engagement

Burkina Faso impact, motivation

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

Lesson Learned:

Although the youth responded strongly to the project’s capacity building offer, acceptance was less pronounced among local government officials at the barangay level, as well as among traditional/religious leaders. Only 58% of the targeted barangay officials and 71% of the targeted religious/traditional leaders attended the grantee’s training. Leaders expressed to evaluators their frustration about the spill-over effects of environmental degradation originating from neighbouring barangays that were remiss on environmental protection.

Theme: Interaction with government

Philippines impact, training

Project: Prévention de la violence durant la période électorale de 2010
Evaluation Date: November 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The logic of intervention of this project did not fully take into account the rift that exists between the centre and the periphery in Burundi: between the governing and the elected community and collines representatives, who for the main part merely execute power. The project intervention logic overestimated the level of impetus that could come from community leaders. The theory according to which the grassroots population would become more dynamic if only they knew their leaders better was overly optimistic, especially when considering the level of education that these populations have and the traumatic war experiences that are still very present within these communities.

Theme: Rule of law

Burundi culture, politics, post-conflict, power

Project: Defence of Vulnerable People and Democracy Restoration for Workers in the Exploitation of Mines in Democratic Republic of Congo
Evaluation Date:
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Steps must be taken to ensure the effective participation of public officials. Activities involving the intervention of the public authorities must be planned ahead of time because of their possible unavailability related to their positions. The activities targeting public officials require the involvement of their leaders in their implementation, otherwise there is no guarantee of their participation, especially when it comes to activities organized by public associations related to the defense of human rights. Lastly, for greater impact, training activities should target as many leaders as possible in different localities.

Theme: Interaction with government

Democratic Republic of the Congo Access, Advocacy/advocate, local development, natural resources

Project: Education and Training of Youth for Democracy in Burkina Faso
Evaluation Date: June 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Although the project did focus on identifying and mobilizing young leaders across Burkina Faso and on implementing numerous trainings and sensitizing activities, it did not set up a monitoring and reporting strategy to assess progress achieved and to motivate and mobilize young leaders to relay the training contents to other youth. In hindsight, it appears that there would have been scope for the grantee to apply for a larger project budget, which could have helped to reinforce these monitoring and evaluation aspects.

Theme: Youth engagement

Burkina Faso monitoring

Project: Action Program for the involvement of religious leaders and community opinion leaders in promoting democracy and sustaining peace in Togo
Evaluation Date: October 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

In terms of familiarization with human rights and democracy, the project may have had a positive impact among the community and religious leaders who participated in the training sessions in Togo. It was, however, impossible to identify specific impacts of the project activities on the wider target groups of parish and community members. The same applies to women leaders: those who participated in training may have benefitted in terms of knowledge, but the project managers could not identify specific changes in women’s participation in public affairs that could have been attributable to the project.

Theme: Rule of law

Togo impact, religion, training

Project: Campagne d’Education au respect des Principes Démocratiques et Promotion du dialogue Démocratique au Burundi
Evaluation Date: November 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The grantee did not differentiate between political leaders and elected members when targeting participants. All elected members are not always political leaders and vice versa. The grantee did not take into account the pyramidal structure of political parties in Burundi in which only few people decide for all members. Interviewees’ comments showed that beneficiaries do not consider themselves as autonomous political actors who can activate internal changes within their own political parties. The change of beneficiaries’ perceptions is essentially individual opinions, which are not able to have an impact on political parties’ practices.

Theme: Community activism

Burundi design, politics, power

Project: Appui à la participation politique et citoyenne de la femme dans le processus démocratique au Burundi
Evaluation Date: November 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Although all planned activities were carried out, three unplanned activities were undertaken and the project was able to reach a large number of women, none of the expected goals were achieved. The grantee opted for an all-encompassing approach, rather than a more rigorous approach which would have contributed to the final objective. Beneficiaries were identified via a system of suggestions coming from the three regions without there being any kind of control mechanism in place and women leaders could not be efficiently identified. There is no indication of women leaders having been identified in all 17 provinces and thereby covering the whole country

Theme: Women's empowerment

Burundi outcomes, scope, women

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