Lessons

The project sought to strengthen the electoral system and civic participation in Mongolia by raising the level of voter education and public awareness on democratic institutions and processes. Its main objectives were: to prepare a voter education high school curriculum; establish a network of volunteers able to train on voters rights issues; improve the skills of key officials involved with elections; and implement a public awareness campaign for voters for the elections in 2012. Its intended outcomes were to have its voter education curriculum adopted by the Ministry of Education as part of the national school curriculum; trained observers and officials ready for the 2012 elections; and, a more knowledgeable public on voter issues. It is evident that this project contributed towards these results and to the more positive outcome of the 2012 electoral process when compared to the situation in 2008. The project started early when no one else was working on these issues, and it was a sizeable project for the sector. However, the extent of the project’s reach and its actual impact is unknown.

In recent decades, virtually every African country has at some point considered modernizing voter registration technology. New ICT applications have been adopted in many African countries, particularly in post-conflict situations. The project was based on a sound strategy that clearly identified the institutional weaknesses in voter registration models. In selecting partner countries, geographic balance, a variety of political contexts, linguistic diversity, and different levels of technical knowledge were sought. The project’s aim was to generate knowledge and disseminate it among experts and institutional stakeholders. However, the link between knowledge, capacity, and the actual election process, which depends primarily on political will, was not explicitly established in the project design, nor was it incorporated as such in the project strategy. All project activities were successfully implemented and even delivered beyond expectations. The project management team developed a strong organizational and logistical support mechanism to guarantee smooth operation of the database and provided easy and immediate access to it. The project had a number of positive impacts, including ongoing in-depth discussions of voter registration reforms.

The aim of the project was to build on the peace process in Burundi and consolidate democratic principles through peaceful elections by encouraging the population in three heavily war-affected provinces to vote in a reflected and enlightened manner and by further encouraging these populations to express their needs and aspirations in order to be included in the electoral programmes of the political parties.

The goal of the project was to increase and strengthen political participation and citizenship among women within democratically elected institutions before, during, and after the election process of 2010. The underlying idea was to make use of this election period as a timeframe allowing for public debate in order to raise awareness among influential parties, such as the media and women leaders, of their rights in order to better know and to assert these rights by creating a National Forum.

The project had two primary audiences: Roma women’s NGOs and young Roma women activists. There were three additional audiences: local government officials; young people, Roma and non-Roma; and, officials of Roma political parties. This focus sought to address in a practical way the weakness of Roma civil society organizations, and particularly those led by, and working for, Roma women, in undertaking advocacy on behalf of their own people. The grantee accomplished a great deal with the small amount of funds provided. It built on the strategic plan developed for 2008-2010, and its earlier project “Implementation of CEDAW for Romani Women”, as well as follow-up initiatives (2005-2008). Through an extremely careful allocation of funds to different areas of activity, the organization was able to undertake a long list of activities and, thus, achieve its own objective. Yet, from an external perspective, it is apparent that there were insufficient funds for some activities, where follow-up was badly needed.

The project sought to strengthen the electoral system and civic participation in Mongolia by raising the level of voter education and public awareness on democratic institutions and processes. Its main objectives were: to prepare a voter education high school curriculum; establish a network of volunteers able to train on voters rights issues; improve the skills of key officials involved with elections; and implement a public awareness campaign for voters for the elections in 2012. Its intended outcomes were to have its voter education curriculum adopted by the Ministry of Education as part of the national school curriculum; trained observers and officials ready for the 2012 elections; and, a more knowledgeable public on voter issues. It is evident that this project contributed towards these results and to the more positive outcome of the 2012 electoral process when compared to the situation in 2008. The project started early when no one else was working on these issues, and it was a sizeable project for the sector. However, the extent of the project’s reach and its actual impact is unknown.

In recent decades, virtually every African country has at some point considered modernizing voter registration technology. New ICT applications have been adopted in many African countries, particularly in post-conflict situations. The project was based on a sound strategy that clearly identified the institutional weaknesses in voter registration models. In selecting partner countries, geographic balance, a variety of political contexts, linguistic diversity, and different levels of technical knowledge were sought. The project’s aim was to generate knowledge and disseminate it among experts and institutional stakeholders. However, the link between knowledge, capacity, and the actual election process, which depends primarily on political will, was not explicitly established in the project design, nor was it incorporated as such in the project strategy. All project activities were successfully implemented and even delivered beyond expectations. The project management team developed a strong organizational and logistical support mechanism to guarantee smooth operation of the database and provided easy and immediate access to it. The project had a number of positive impacts, including ongoing in-depth discussions of voter registration reforms.

The aim of the project was to build on the peace process in Burundi and consolidate democratic principles through peaceful elections by encouraging the population in three heavily war-affected provinces to vote in a reflected and enlightened manner and by further encouraging these populations to express their needs and aspirations in order to be included in the electoral programmes of the political parties.

Empowering people through citizens’ journalism in Albania sought to strengthen the outreach of CSOs representing socially vulnerable groups to the community through citizen journalism by 1) equipping CSOs with public communication skills, 2) establishing a community radio station and a web portal at Tirana University, and 3) training students to report on socially relevant topics. The project was unable to establish the on-air radio but continued some training components at the University of Tirana. Activities were also extended to the University of Elbasan which had an existing campus radio station and a dean interested in community radio and citizen journalism. The project created an internet portal called “YouRadio” that it based in the IRIOM project office where it could record and upload its programming. It also branched out to broadcast each programme on a national FM radio station run by Ora, through paid airtime at a regular time each week. Towards the end of the project, it also found the private Marlin Barleti University in Tirana interested in establishing a campus radio station and provided the project equipment to its communications department.

The objective of the project was to reinforce local governance by helping to strengthen democratic practices among the indigenous and Afro-descendant populations of Ecuador. The project’s key components comprised of training for young leaders from the indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in leadership techniques and political influence; activities to raise the awareness and visibility of the target audience; institutional strengthening of the partner organisations and the creation of opportunities for political dialogue. Ecuador introduced a new constitution in 2008, which focused on improving the living conditions of vulnerable and marginalized communities and groups, fighting poverty and the promotion of sustainable human development. The decision to focus the project on young leaders, including a fair representation of young women, who had not previously had the chance to learn about and practice their civic responsibility, also proved to be relevant to the political context of renewal in the country.