Project: Deepening Democratization Processes Through Youth Leadership in Myanmar
Evaluation Date: September 2010
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Where academic research is useful to initiate policy dialogue with the authorities, action-research can provide the opportunity for capacity building of the fellows and can also be a useful tool in deciding, designing and promoting community initiatives. Reliable research by a recognized researcher is more likely to be usable in policy dialogue with the authorities; action-research facilitated by trained fellows is more likely to be valid for informing community-level actions and discussion. There should be a clear distinction between the two, and better strategizing/positioning of the research within the project design.

Theme: Youth engagement
Myanmar   ,
Project: Promoting Women's Participation in Local Budgetary Processes
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Enhancing practical skills of women on action research and gender-responsive analysis allowed women to participate in local governance more effectively and in a collaborative way. The women’s action research groups were involved in all phases of the project. They analysed their own municipal budget and identified budgetary problems and issues to raise with the local administration and elected officials.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Niger   ,
Project: Empowering Civil Society and Women to Engage in Policy Processes
Evaluation Date: August 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Project follow-up should have included applied research. The goal of such research would be to analyse critically and comparatively the various experiences and advances encountered by the project. This exercise should identify, in the context of a fragile democracy, the modalities and the possible alternatives for optimising women’s empowerment and guaranteeing as much as possible the application of the legal framework, as well as following up and carrying out the recommended support or judicial measures.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Honduras   , ,
Project: Addressing Ghana’s Governance Deficits through Constitutional Reform
Evaluation Date: July 2013
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The grantee’s influence was partly because of the high quality of the research undertaken as a basis for the proposals it put forward to the Constitutional Review Commission. The range and number of civil society partners in the Coalition also added to the credibility of the project. This project was a thoroughly professional and unique initiative. Its findings were of crucial importance in demonstrating to the Constitutional Review Commission the weight of public support for some of what became the key issues addressed in its recommendations.

Theme: Interaction with government
Ghana   , ,
Project: Civic Education and Civil Society Empowerment in Remote Areas in Myanmar
Evaluation Date: December 2012
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Research that addresses local concerns and brings them to the forefront of national debate is greatly needed. Although policy papers were drafted by September 2012, the papers’ quality was low, and the lack of dissemination wasted potential impact at states/regions level. The only distribution was a compendium of policy papers without foreword or explanation of the aim and the process which led to their drafting. Papers should be presented directly to local government, with abstracts published in local newspapers, and distributed widely to CSOs and political parties.

Theme: Community activism
Myanmar   , ,
Project: Democracy for Women’s Rights in Sindh, Pakistan
Evaluation Date: October 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Not much thought was given to the design of the media campaign element of the project at its start. In planning for this element of the project the grantee could have included a qualitative market research component, even as simple as a few focus groups, to help assess impact and revise messages and materials accordingly. This would have also allowed an assessment of the impact of the media campaign.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Pakistan   , ,