Lessons

Awareness of existing power dynamics with communities is important for effective implementation. When organizing community-based activities in which elected representatives and officials are present, one must be aware of existing power imbalances and mitigate these imbalances by facilitating activities in a way that doesn't reinforce existing power structures.

Project outcomes should be captured on a continuous basis, rather than only at the end of the project. It is vital to capture the difference made by a project intervention at different stages of the project (immediately after the event and at further times). Otherwise, it is impossible to distinguish between the effects of different project interventions.

In all projects that involve challenging established power structures, staff members that are most visible in project implementation ('frontline staff') face a high risk of personal reprisals. It is essential for grantees to be aware of these risks and take the appropriate measures necessary to protect frontline staff, for example ensuring the backing of a larger organization or having senior management playing a frontline role in project implementation as well.

Civil society organizations have the unique ability to act as a 'bridge' between service providers and users, building the capacity of marginalized groups that do not have the capacity to take advantage of the services available to them as well as helping service providers reach beneficiaries.

In order to effectively achieve project goals, grantees must be realistic about their organizational capacity, especially when working in areas and subject matters that are new to their organization. Grantees should call upon the expertise of other organizations with more experience in those fields if possible.

It is easy for nongovernmental organisations who are focusing their efforts
on promoting the greater accountability of government and the private
sector to forget that they in turn have an accountability to the
beneficiaries they serve, particularly where projects are funded by public
money. It is important to ensure the institution of effective complaints
mechanisms to enable beneficiary feedback.

Grantees should take care to adapt the information used in capacity-building exercises to the needs of the target groups. Grantees should consider adapting the information into more accessible or creative forms such as role plays, dramas, or art, or delivering information in conjunction with other activities meeting beneficiary needs (such as sports, life skills workshops) to bring key messages across.

Knowledge of the characteristics of the target group is of paramount importance to effective project implementation. The target group in question in this project was Congolese miners. The miners frequently move from one mine site to another depending on whether ores are easy to find or facilities are offered by traders or well owners. Thus, a better awareness of this target group requires that in addition to theoretical training, documents be made accessible to wherever they travel.

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.

In order to increase the efficiency of radio broadcast awareness campaigns, these programs need to be interactive and broadcast on local radio in the local language.