Project: Civic Involvement for Transparency and Accountability in Kosovo
Evaluation Date: August 2015
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Community engagement was the area where the project had the greatest short-term impact. Most municipal assembly Heads, mayors and senior local government officials, had little or no previous exposure to meetings where they interacted with local community members on their concerns and priorities. The project introduced community consultations and more elaborate Town Hall meetings. This innovation was quite successful it persuaded municipal leaders of the value of citizen engagement. It also led to concrete results when issues raised by the community were included in municipal budgeting.

Theme: Rule of law
Project: Youth Training for Democracy and Development
Evaluation Date: May 2012
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The collective assessments conducted in Guatemala through local situation analysis, as well as the preparation of proposals for alternative projects, has motivated the local population to become more directly involved in the local management of development. A substantial number of young beneficiaries have joined the Municipal Development Councils, the bodies responsible for decision-making and municipal policy development, and other institutions such as the Municipal Bureaus and mayoralties.

Theme: Youth engagement
Project: Strengthening Municipal Capacity for Access to Public Information in El Salvador
Evaluation Date: August 2014
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

A major part of the project’s success rested on its timing: El Salvador had recently adopted the Law on the Access to Public Information which required a greater degree of openness from public institutions at all levels. However, the law’s quick entry into force required institutional, human and financial capacities which local governments, citizens and the Institute for Access to Public Information did not have. The project was therefore responding to a genuine and timely need and helped raise awareness of the issue of access to public information at the local level. Thus, by designing the intervention around the political context, the project was relevant for both the government and local communities.

 

Theme: Rule of law
Project: Monitoring and Influencing the Central Budget by Civic Empowerment
Evaluation Date: February 2012
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The decision to add a gender equality component to the project by providing special training to Women’s Assemblies reflected the recognition of a significant capacity gap in local civil society in Turkey. Working through the Urban Councils and Women’s Assemblies, the project lobbied municipal authorities to establish municipal Equality Commissions as sub-committees of elected municipal councils.. All five pilot municipalities have now either set up, or are planning to set up, Equality Commissions.

Theme: Interaction with government
Project: Civic Involvement for Transparency and Accountability in Kosovo
Evaluation Date: August 2015
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The initial project idea was for the grantee to replicate its earlier experience in monitoring the national legislature in Kosovo at the level of the municipal assembly. However, following a request to the grantee from UNDEF to make adjustments to the project plan, its focus switched from managing a team of locally-recruited consultants to preparing selected CSOs to monitor the work of municipal assemblies and of the work of municipal government, more generally.

Theme: Rule of law
Project: Citizen Participation to Improve Local Governance
Evaluation Date: January 2014
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

There was a risk that the newly introduced Citizen Participation Cells (CPC) would be manipulated by local authorities in Benin. They were often called on by municipal governments to assess the compliance of municipal investments or to raise awareness among citizens. In order to be seen as an independent mechanism, the CPCs should be more proactive rather than reactive when dealing with municipal administrations.

Theme: Community activism