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Project: Governance and Transparency through Radio in Southern Africa
Evaluation Date: October 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Given the budget, the scope of the work was too ambitious. Insufficient resources were allocated to core activities which had a negative impact on the outputs and results achieved. Scarce resources were allocated to activities which had marginal relevance for overall project outcomes

Theme: Community activism

Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia budget, impact, resources

Project: Developing alternative models of natural resource governance based on indigenous community participation in Aceh
Evaluation Date: July 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project could have capitalised on existing successful natural resource governance models and fostered exchanges of experiences among Mukim communities. The needs that should have been addressed by the project involved strengthening of Mukim capacity to rule and manage their natural resources with a good knowledge of local constraints and specificities. Therefore, sharing lessons learned from other Mukims or other indigenous communities’ experiences could have played a key role in disseminating methodologies and techniques about governing natural resources.

Theme: Community activism

Indonesia collaboration, natural resources, network

Project: Engaging civil society and youth in public policy dialogue in North Africa
Evaluation Date: September 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project’s third outcome, the establishment of a regional advocacy network, was not achieved. The young participants were more engaged with designing and implementing specific projects at local level. This left them with little time or resources to engage in participatory policy development and broader advocacy. This reveals that some aspects of the training’s design – notably on advocacy campaigning and on cross-border networking – were not addressed in sufficient detail.

Theme: Youth engagement

Morocco, Tunisia advocacy, resources

Project: Women in Politics in Mozambique
Evaluation Date: December 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project did not budget resources adequately to maintain a continuing relationship with beneficiaries and other partners. This was a complicated project, and, for capacities to be built and maintained, and for openings to be followed up, there was a need for a regular project presence with the Assemblies, government institutions, women community leaders and the base groups.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Mozambique budget, resources, sustainability

Project: Empowering Civil Society to Monitor Development Programmes in Tanzania
Evaluation Date: December 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project’s baseline needs assessment revealed that development projects at the local level depended on external support. This dependence on external resources could undermine self-initiative in the villages that the grantee was unable to reach.

Theme: Community activism

Tanzania, United Republic of development, resources

Project: Empowerment of Roma to Fight Rights Deprivation
Evaluation Date: January 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

There was a lack of continuity and follow-up in some areas of project work, most notably anti-discrimination advocacy in Central and Southern Europe. This suggests that the project tried to include too many elements within a single human rights project with limited resources.

Theme: Rule of law

Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia planning, resources

Project: Initiative to Build Social Movements in Sierra Leone
Evaluation Date: May 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

While participants from civil society organizations and platforms welcomed training provided by the grantee to improve CSO management and coordination they were not necessarily ready to implement the new skills acquired if it required additional resources. For the same reasons, the enhancement of platform and CSO leaders’ management skills did not necessarily result in additional advocacy activities. The project’s relevance could have been enhanced, by providing incentives for platforms to develop joint advocacy or campaigns.

Theme: Community activism

Sierra Leone, Sub-Saharan Africa incentives, platforms, resources

Project: Defence of Vulnerable People and Democracy Restoration for Workers in the Exploitation of Mines in Democratic Republic of Congo
Evaluation Date: August 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

In areas where long-distance travel is difficult, it is important to take this into account in project design. The legal clinics provided to miners in this project would have had greater impact if there were more of them or if they were provided with means of transport. The distance between clinics prevented those in need from taking advantage of the legal resources provided to them.

Theme: Interaction with government

Democratic Republic of the Congo Access, Advocacy/advocate, local development, natural resources

Maintain good links with key actors in the International Community as well as national government stakeholders

Project: Strengthening CSO Engagement with Defence Institutions to Reduce Corruption and Strengthen Accountability in Mali
Evaluation Date: February 2021
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

In a crowded donor environment with multiple civil society actors, and a highly volatile and dynamic political and security context, the project demonstrated the need to maintain good links with key actors in the International Community as well as national government stakeholders. This requires an investment in time and resources. To ensure longer-term durability and sustainability of projects, considerations for mobilising and engaging with the international community should be an integral part of Civil Society Organisation planning and strategy.

Theme: Interaction with government

Mali community, Coordinate, donor, plan, planning, resources, stakeholder, sustainable

Project: Transparency and Public Accountability in Education in Brazil
Evaluation Date: June 2020
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

A project where approximately 90% of human resources are volunteers, entails risks of lack of motivation and commitment. This should be included in the project risk assessment and it must be defined as measures to mitigate these risks.

Theme: Interaction with government

Brazil commitment, measure, motivation, project design, resources, risk, staff, volunteers

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