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Project: Media, Transparency and Accountability in Albania
Evaluation Date: September 2010
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project built on portions of an earlier media development project funded by USAID in Albania. As a result, most of the project framework was already in place, making implementation of the UNDEF-funded activities relatively straightforward. Most of the stations in its networks, and about half of its reporters, had already been trained under the previous USAID. project and the grantee was able to leverage this experience to its advantage. This helped to consolidate the position of investigatory journalism and the role of the media as a public watchdog. It also ensured that the Union functioned long enough to become an established part of the Albanian media environment.

Theme: Media

Albania journalism, leverage

Project: Underpinning and developing the democratic electoral processes in Azerbaijan
Evaluation Date: August 2010
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Partnerships were not strategically designed; the two partnerships formed by the principal implementing agency appear to have been largely partnerships of convenience, lacking strategic direction and substantive content. The grantee has a strong comparative advantage as a locally-based NGO outside Baku specialized in women’s empowerment, but it needs to leverage that comparative advantage by forming partnerships with groups with greater capacity in democratization.

Theme: Community activism

Azerbaijan leverage, partnership

Project: Educating Rural Women in Haiti for Democratic Citizenship
Evaluation Date: March 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The approach taken by the project prioritized strengthening the capacity of women facilitators and motivators from the rural communities and provided close monitoring and support. This enabled the project to capitalize on its achievements and to continuously adapt the intervention to the specifics of the context.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Haiti adapt, capacity, leverage, rural

Project: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola
Evaluation Date: March 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project had a positive impact on the grantee itself. The workshops and seminars that were held strengthened the NGO as a forum for interaction among organizations committed to promoting gender equality. The project also improved its opportunities for dialogue with state agencies; it also enabled it to obtain an audience with the President of the National Assembly to, among other things, make its request for recognition as a public interest organization. Securing this recognition would substantially improve its situation and bolster its institutional capacity.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Angola leverage

Project: Opening the Doors of Policy Making in Central Asia and South Caucasus
Evaluation Date: July 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

There was no evidence that the project sought to build bridges with academia or the international private sector. University researchers represent an untapped source of expertise in the target countries, yet this project appears to have done little to improve this situation.

Theme: Community activism

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan collaborate, expertise, leverage

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

Lesson Learned:

The project helped enhance the standing and credibility of the grantee. It was able to carry out work beyond the scope of the project. Following up on its efforts to open up the public procurement sphere to scrutiny, with the support of like-minded law firms, the grantee launched a number of public interest legal cases concerning the obligation of government bodies to release all relevant information to civil society observers. A positive result was achieved recently in one such case, concerning the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), which had refused to provide the necessary documents to an accredited monitor.

Theme: Interaction with government

Nigeria corruption, credibility, leverage, sustainability

Project: Towards a better electoral process in Mongolia
Evaluation Date: November 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The grantee was well organized and took efforts to maximize the project resources and extend its reach. For example by developing synergies with other organizations working on the same issues as the project and using its grass roots network of provincial offices to identify participants and to deliver its training nationwide to CSO and political party observers and monitors.

Theme: Community activism

Mongolia collaboration, leverage

Project: Civil society advocating for quality education & healthcare in Mexico
Evaluation Date: February 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The electoral process is a part of the political process, and should be seen as an opportunity for public debate on agenda issues, obtaining candidate endorsements should be done for agenda items and following up on those commitments once they enter office.

Theme: Tools for knowledge

Mexico debate, elections, leverage

Project: Strengthening Local NGOs in Areas Where Extractive Industries Operate
Evaluation Date: June 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Meeting with all parties involved was an important first step in building mutual trust to facilitate a common understanding of the challenges of corporate social responsibility, including those related to civil society engagement in Indonesia. All stakeholders expressed their concerns, and it was established that companies and local governments must pool local civil society resources if they are to have a visible impact on the community with which they are working.

Theme: Community activism

Indonesia CSR, leverage

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

Lesson Learned:

The project was implemented at the right time when the government of Kosovo was in the process of updating and consolidating its national framework for democratic governance. The grantee seized this opportunity and the partnership it developed with the key officials who were driving this process and with the group of CSOs in the Advisory Group gave the reform effort structure and momentum through its regular meetings, topical workshops, training and information sharing.

Theme: Community activism

Kosovo leverage, partnership

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