Project: Strengthening promotion of women’s rights (Kenya)
Evaluation Date: October 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Training in media management successfully created links between NGO’s and relevant journalists in Kenya, and empowered NGO’s to frame their messages in a more media friendly way. Previously, NGO’s had a difficult time making their material relevant to journalists, and lacked access to media outlets. The NGO training was seen as vital in promoting coverage of women’s issues in the media.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Project: Empowering Local CSOs in Yemen through Participation in Local Governance
Evaluation Date: May 2015
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

There were two different types of outcome at local level: dialogue between communities and local authorities; and facilitation of urgent development/humanitarian activities. These were sometimes confused. In addition, the project sought to achieve outcomes internal to the NGO movement, by helping build NGO project management capacity and reinforce accountability and transparency within civil society. While these outcomes were all relevant, their achievement in four different locations including Sana’a was challenging, particularly in view of the ambitious objectives the project was meant to fulfill.

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

The project considered NGO capacity weakness as an obstacle to implementation rather than a need that should be addressed. A wide range of topics, including an understanding of CSR policies and practices, could have been addressed in training courses – such as budget analysis, monitoring of oil and mining operations, tax laws, public information on government revenues and payments by extractive companies, information on other CSR networks – for NGOs in Indonesia.

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

When the project ended there was no formal partnership among the stakeholders involved. Most of the microprojects had ended and the participating organizations considered themselves beneficiaries of corporate social responsibility funds rather than as pro-active partners. The project reinforced current corporate practices in which civil society empowerment is regarded simply as making donations to NGOs. Better information about the costs and benefits of corporate social responsibility implementation and an inventory of industry practices could help to identify NGO capacity constraints and priority needs, tailoring different partnership models to the situation in each district.

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

Most of the 12 microprojects selected involved business opportunities in agroindustry and farming. There was no specific mechanism to review the results of NGO microprojects . This was a missed opportunity. Reviewing the results in a workshop could have built broader support for the changes advocated at the local and government level. This was not an effective way to help local actors make their voices heard by authorities and private enterprises or to facilitate trust-building and dialogue on how corporate social responsibility should be managed and how to involve NGOs as CSR partners.

Theme: Community activism