Lessons

The project sought to empower youth and increase their civic participation and the building of a more democratic society through the development of their media skills. Its intended outcomes were to: 1) increase civic and media literacy among regional youth; and, 2) increase the participation of youth in information creation, production and distribution. Its activities intended to 1) increase the capacity of 300 youth in media and journalism through workshops, mentoring and peer teaching; 2) use media as a tool for empowerment by combining social media with professional journalism to strengthen the voice of participating youth; and, 3) connect the youth through a young reporters’ network to organize joint projects and serve as role models.

The project sought to empower youth and increase their civic participation and the building of a more democratic society through the development of their media skills. Its intended outcomes were to: 1) increase civic and media literacy among regional youth; and, 2) increase the participation of youth in information creation, production and distribution. Its activities intended to 1) increase the capacity of 300 youth in media and journalism through workshops, mentoring and peer teaching; 2) use media as a tool for empowerment by combining social media with professional journalism to strengthen the voice of participating youth; and, 3) connect the youth through a young reporters’ network to organize joint projects and serve as role models.

This project was focused on the preparations for the general election planned for 2015 in Burundi. The project’s objective was to empower local councilors in the Municipality of Bujumbura, leaders of political parties and parliamentarians and educate them regarding the importance of democratic culture within the political bodies and to create dialogue between political leaders so as to build a climate of trust and cooperation in the 2015 general elections.

The overall objective of the project was to reinforce community dialogue and participatory democracy in the Western part of Cote d’Ivoire, with a view to enhancing social cohesion and the enhancement of democratic values at local level. To achieve this objective, the project had three outputs: Civil society organizations (CSOs) and the authorities are better equipped to use community support techniques; CSO’s providing support to communities on the management of conflicts; and enhanced involvement of local communities in development initiatives. The project was remarkably relevant, in that it correctly identified the lack of social cohesion as a major risk for conflict returning to the target areas. The project developed strategies and activities that specifically addressed the needs of the local communities and those of the CSOs working with them. However, the project design phase did not sufficiently involve the communities and CSOs, and the project should have involved more technical experts.

This project was focused on the preparations for the general election planned for 2015 in Burundi. The project’s objective was to empower local councilors in the Municipality of Bujumbura, leaders of political parties and parliamentarians and educate them regarding the importance of democratic culture within the political bodies and to create dialogue between political leaders so as to build a climate of trust and cooperation in the 2015 general elections.

This project was focused on the preparations for the general election planned for 2015 in Burundi. The project’s objective was to empower local councilors in the Municipality of Bujumbura, leaders of political parties and parliamentarians and educate them regarding the importance of democratic culture within the political bodies and to create dialogue between political leaders so as to build a climate of trust and cooperation in the 2015 general elections.

The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.

The project was a follow-up to an earlier initiative that targeted 15 municipalities in the six Lebanese governorates. Under the UNDEF grant, the project was an extension of the initial programme, more focused on the areas of Western and Northern Bekaa to ensure a greater impact at the country level. The aim of the project was to empower youth, and tje wider community through them, to render municipal councils of Western and Northern Bekaa more transparent and accountable. The project was divided into two phases: in the first phase, five democratically elected Youth Shadow Councils (YSCs) received thematic and technical training on good governance, advocacy strategies, conducting needs assessments, access to public services, and budget analysis. In the second phase, the elected council was responsible for training another group of participants in order to disseminate the principles of transparency and accountability and motivate citizens to advocate for reforms and get involved in their community’s development process. The project mobilized and trained 200 young women and men aged 17-29 in the municipalities of Der El Ahmar, Baalbeck, Taalbaya, Saadnayel, and Sawireh. It had a relevant and well-defined strategy with concrete indicators that facilitated the monitoring of achievement levels.

The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.

The objective of the project was to reinforce the capacities of Arab citizen journalists and bloggers in relation to the promotion and protection of human rights. The project was relevant as a human rights education activity, to the extent it responded to the fact that the targeted bloggers and journalists were not always familiar with the human rights principles and the international procedures for the protection of human rights. The project activities led to the acquisition of new skills by the participants which contributed to changes in the way they have carried out their blogging and journalistic work after the training sessions. It is of course not clear that the participants’ work has influenced the wider public. However, comments posted by readers suggest that some of the participants were able to encourage tolerant attitudes among their readers, for example in relation to gender equality or in debates about democracy.