Lesson Browser | Lessons Learned

Project: Promoting Human Rights through Providing Access to Information for Marginalized Women in Zimbabwe
Evaluation Date: November 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The training gave a very palpable boost to the self-confidence of the women who participated. The capacities of citizen journalists have also been substantially improved, and some women have clearly acquired skills that enhanced their status at local level and continued to spur their posting of information on social networks.

Theme: Media

Project: Strengthening Civil Society and Developing Independent Media in Africa
Evaluation Date: March 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

One important element of impact is related to the role of street papers as social enterprises. By supporting the network of papers, the project effectively supported one of the few African social enterprise networks currently in existence. This is significant in that social enterprises are likely to become a key tool in future, as government and civil society develop new strategies to tackle poverty.

Theme: Media

Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia poverty, social enterprise, tools

Project: Civil society advocating for quality education & healthcare in Mexico
Evaluation Date: February 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project did not take advantage of the internet or social media to develop a common platform for the project to connect the state networks and draw in supporters from other locations and sectors on project issues and action. Although many of the beneficiaries may not have had access to the internet, most of the participating CSOs did, as did local officials, and leveraging information technology would have been a programmatic and cost-effective way to deepen participation.

Theme: Tools for knowledge

Mexico social media

Project: Youth local councils for civic engagement and social change in Palestine
Evaluation Date: December 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The Youth Local Councils (YLC) in Palestine became very active on social networks; all opened a Facebook page and a common page was created to exchange best practices. The bringing-together of the YLCs in networking meetings and training and promoting a mentoring system to support new participants and retain the experience and expertise of young participants reaching the age limit of 22 were mentioned by a number of beneficiaries.

Theme: Youth engagement

Palestine network, social media

Project: Promoting Human Rights through Providing Access to Information for Marginalized Women in Zimbabwe
Evaluation Date: November 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project’s planned SMS platform was overtaken by the use of social networks, partly because more participating women had access to smartphones than was originally expected at project planning stage, and partly because of usage costs: text messaging was significantly more expensive than the data subscription allowing access to the Internet and the use of WhatsApp and Facebook.

Theme: Media

Zimbabwe flexibility, social media

Project: Emerging Leaders of the Arab Region
Evaluation Date: November 2017
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Networking to gather participants in training sessions should be conducted after there has been clear scoping of potential existing resources. The reliance solely on social media and personal connections limits diversity, and the lack of involvement of the grantee also limits the credibility and legitimacy of trainers to attract participants.

Theme: Youth engagement

Arab States, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates networking, social media, youth

Project: Empowering Civil Society and Women to Engage in Policy Processes
Evaluation Date: August 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project led to greater representation of women in decision making processes in the geographic areas covered by the project. The Women’s Network in the municipalities contributed to enhancing participation and also played a role in setting a municipal policy agenda and carrying out social audits. The project also succeeded in mobilizing community based organizations and women’s networks in extremely challenging socio-economic conditions of exclusion and extreme.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Honduras exclusion, mobilize, networks

Project: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia
Evaluation Date: April 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The grantee relied heavily on personal contacts to recruit participants, including journalists from the Charter of Ethical Journalists which the grantee had created under an earlier EU project. This was efficient since these people were known to be independent and helped maintain the perception of impartiality. At the same time, this limited the reach of the project to people who were already civically active. There were no links apparent between this effort and other more substantial efforts for citizen journalism, election reporting or observation. The reach of the project could have been extended through better use of social networks beyond the staff’s Facebook pages, and the use of participating media organizations to promote citizen reporting, the website and project purpose.

Theme: Media

Georgia network, scope, social media

Project: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt
Evaluation Date: April 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Despite the emphasis on social media and development of trainees’ ICT skills, there was no strong evidence that project beneficiaries stayed in contact or used the ICT skills required to engage in robust advocacy campaigns as per the project’s goals. More attention should have been paid to promoting post-workshop networks.

Theme: Rule of law

Egypt network, social media, sustainability

Project: Best Practices for Women´s Participation in Democracy at Local Levels (Argentina)
Evaluation Date: April 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project empowered women leaders by bolstering their leadership skills, and the organizations and venues in which they worked. Prioritizing the local level as the intervention area helped put the issue on the provincial agenda. The project enabled the beneficiaries to learn about each other and forged ties among women leaders of social and community initiatives in different jurisdictions.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Argentina leadership, networks