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Project: Judicial Reform: empowering magistrate-civil society collaboration for Guinea’s new democratic future
Evaluation Date: August 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Reform of the judiciary was one of the key priorities announced by the President of the Republic of Guinea in 2010. Following the legislative elections of September 2013, which marked a turning point in the process of transitioning the country from the earlier dictatorship, the focus on judicial reform became more relevant. The project’s complex but well-articulated process used to identify the specific scope of action ensured that the project was aligned with government objectives regarding reform.

Theme: Interaction with government

Guinea government, judiciary, reform

Project: The National Campaign towards Muslim Family Law Reform (MFL Campaign) in Malaysia
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The overall situation regarding women’s rights in Malaysia was largely unchanged by the project. However, if the project had not occurred, it is likely that the space to discuss Muslim women’s rights would have closed further as grantee activities kept these issues in the public arena. It also seems likely that this project provided a safe space for women to discuss their problems and to find strength in collective voice. The project also gave some of the women’s groups, pro-reform media and interested Members of Parliament (MPs) the language and justifications they could use to support Muslim Family Law reform when that issue arose.

UNDEF/ Malaysia

Theme: Rule of law

Malaysia law, reform, solidarity

Project: The National Campaign towards Muslim Family Law Reform (MFL Campaign) in Malaysia
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Linking the efforts done by the broader coalitions for free and fair election and domestic observers will add weight to the effort and allow for a much broader group of individuals to query candidates about their positions and to extract promises for support- or for reasons why they would not support legal reform. It will also increase the visibility of the key issues with the public which could help provide support and build momentum for a parallel advocacy effort for law reform.

Theme: Rule of law

Malaysia advocacy, coalition, reform

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

Lesson Learned:

A weakness in the project was the over-estimation by the Jakarta-based project team of the level of interest of Papuan decision-makers in reform. The project also failed to understand that middle-level officials in Indonesia could not make commitments on behalf of the government.

Theme: Community activism

Indonesia government, reform

Project: Empowering Female and Youth Domestic Workers in Uganda
Evaluation Date: September 2020
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Building allies in parliament and providing technical inputs whilst allowing them to drive the reform process, is a strategy that has worked well.

Theme: Rule of law

Uganda parliament, reform, technical

Project: Promoting Citizen’s Participation in the Constitutional Reform Process in Ghana
Evaluation Date: January 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Constitutional review processes are frequently subject to unexpected changes in the government’s schedule of priorities or politically motivated delays. These are recurring challenges that many UNDEF-funded projects have faced. This project in Ghana took a very cautious approach and identified external risks and therefore formulated more modest expected outputs and results.

Theme: Rule of law

Ghana constitution, reform

Project: Coalition against Poverty: Oil Revenue under Public Oversight
Evaluation Date: April 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

From a programme theory or design perspective, the project’s unrealistically high ambition was demonstrated in its expectation of behaviour change. The project aimed to change behaviour on three fronts: national and international extractive industry business interests; civil society; and local government. Some frustrations or disappointment could have been mitigated by reviewing the scope and scale of activities so that they were more appropriately matched to the problem analysis and by setting achievable goals and targets informed by better programme theory.

Theme: Community activism

Kazakhstan design, reform

Project: Strengthening the capacities of Magistrates
Evaluation Date: July 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

At institutional, operational and political levels, the project has had little impact. To some extent, this was because there no legal proposal was made to adapt and enforce the Ethical and Deontological Code. The project also failed to create a pool of experts on economic and financial crimes. The training does not appear to have made a positive difference in encouraging inclusion of efficiency indicators in the fight against economic and financial crimes or improving the overall capacities of judges.

Theme: Rule of law

Niger advocacy, reform

Project: Enhancing Dialogue for Inclusive Constitution
Evaluation Date: February 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The grantee seemed to have missed the opportunity to convince the project’s former beneficiaries of the importance of continued dialogue, negotiation and networking to ensure sustainability. Since the Constitutional Assembly in Nepal failed and, taking into account the project’s long-term objective to establish a mutually shared vision of Nepal’s future form of governance, the project’s former beneficiaries could have played a lasting key role in further disseminating relevant knowledge and information, in particular at the grass-roots level.

Theme: Interaction with government

Nepal constitutional reform, dialogue, networks

Project: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda
Evaluation Date: July 2023
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Empowering women when it comes to realizing their rights, not just learning about them, requires the support of men – both in their family and in the community at-large – and they should be brought on board to champion wider societal transformation around gender.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Uganda approach, change, claim, collaborate, community, empowerment, impact, needs, participants, participation, promote, promotion, reform, relationships, women

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