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Lessons

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth as Agents of Democratic Change through Knowledge and Information Acquisition and Exchange in Laos

As a result of the project local and provincial authorities have started to consider natural resource management suggestions. Using educational activities with youth as a way of encouraging them to propose solutions to mitigate negative environmental effects, was a way of encouraging discussion of more complex political realities.
Project Partner
Participatory Development Training Center
Project Description
The project enhanced the technical capacity of youth group leaders to introduce rights-based development knowledge. It also supported leadership development, and therefore was a relevant effort to involve youth in democratic and participatory processes regarding the management and use of natural resources. In addition, trained teachers of 17 primary schools from 6 provinces developed locally relevant curricula introducing indigenous knowledge. Given the political and administrative realities, the identification of bio-diversity issues and general development challenges, rather than direct democracy issues, represented smart approaches to support participation in environmental policy formulation by youth. The youth’s field-work identified about 30 different bio-diversity themes and general development challenges, and subsequently suggestions were made related to farming practices, but also to the need to preserve local culture and traditions. In view of the appreciation expressed by central and provincial representatives, evaluators are of the view that the project effectively contributed to improved consideration of local and biodiversity knowledge in local community development processes.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Civil Society Empowerment in Advocacy and Policy Development in Vietnam

Through the project, the grantee succeeded in establishing the Action for CSO Development Alliance (CSA) in Vietnam. The Alliance clearly had potential, and government officials have expressed support for its possible role in representing CSO interests in policy discussions. However, without securing additional resources to build the network, little more can be done.
Project Partner
Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the participation of Vietnamese civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic policy-making. The grantee sought to achieve this through: building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for democratic participation in the policy development process; enhancing networking, cooperation and communication among CSOs and related government bodies; implementation of existing legal frameworks and policies; and actual, successful participation of CSOs in the policy-making process. The objectives of the project were directly relevant to exploring new possibilities in civil society engagement with government agencies in Viet Nam on public policy, at both local and national levels. The project helped facilitate CSOs voice in discussions and problem-solving on issues of concern to particular disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Civil Society Empowerment in Advocacy and Policy Development in Vietnam

A number of the training graduates pointed out that the financial vulnerability of CSOs in Vietnam made it difficult for them to allow staff members to devote time during working hours to preparation for training course delivery.
Project Partner
Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the participation of Vietnamese civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic policy-making. The grantee sought to achieve this through: building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for democratic participation in the policy development process; enhancing networking, cooperation and communication among CSOs and related government bodies; implementation of existing legal frameworks and policies; and actual, successful participation of CSOs in the policy-making process. The objectives of the project were directly relevant to exploring new possibilities in civil society engagement with government agencies in Viet Nam on public policy, at both local and national levels. The project helped facilitate CSOs voice in discussions and problem-solving on issues of concern to particular disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Civil Society Empowerment in Advocacy and Policy Development in Vietnam

None of the participants from the Training of Trainers felt fully equipped to train independently on advocacy and policy development, particularly since they themselves lacked hands-on experience of organizing and conducting initiatives in this sphere. All reported that there was a need for additional training and preparation.
Project Partner
Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the participation of Vietnamese civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic policy-making. The grantee sought to achieve this through: building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for democratic participation in the policy development process; enhancing networking, cooperation and communication among CSOs and related government bodies; implementation of existing legal frameworks and policies; and actual, successful participation of CSOs in the policy-making process. The objectives of the project were directly relevant to exploring new possibilities in civil society engagement with government agencies in Viet Nam on public policy, at both local and national levels. The project helped facilitate CSOs voice in discussions and problem-solving on issues of concern to particular disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Civil Society Empowerment in Advocacy and Policy Development in Vietnam

The integration of different project components was undermined by the grantee’s effort to refocus a number of project activities in order to take advantage of an unexpected breakthrough with the Vietnamese government in building a CSO network. While the changes in design were understandable given the need to act quickly, the addition of new priorities to the project did leave some activities incomplete.
Project Partner
Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the participation of Vietnamese civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic policy-making. The grantee sought to achieve this through: building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for democratic participation in the policy development process; enhancing networking, cooperation and communication among CSOs and related government bodies; implementation of existing legal frameworks and policies; and actual, successful participation of CSOs in the policy-making process. The objectives of the project were directly relevant to exploring new possibilities in civil society engagement with government agencies in Viet Nam on public policy, at both local and national levels. The project helped facilitate CSOs voice in discussions and problem-solving on issues of concern to particular disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Civil Society Empowerment in Advocacy and Policy Development in Vietnam

The training-of-trainers component of the project was well planned and implemented. It was delivered through a 3-day course given to ten CSO staff members, selected from those who participated in the initial advocacy training, and two others. On completion of the course, the grantee provided further guidance to the twelve trainees working in small teams of 2 or 3, to prepare and conduct their own training courses. Custom-designed training manuals were provided to assist them in their task.
Project Partner
Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the participation of Vietnamese civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic policy-making. The grantee sought to achieve this through: building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for democratic participation in the policy development process; enhancing networking, cooperation and communication among CSOs and related government bodies; implementation of existing legal frameworks and policies; and actual, successful participation of CSOs in the policy-making process. The objectives of the project were directly relevant to exploring new possibilities in civil society engagement with government agencies in Viet Nam on public policy, at both local and national levels. The project helped facilitate CSOs voice in discussions and problem-solving on issues of concern to particular disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: JOINT Contribution to Strengthen and Expand Democracy in Mozambique

The government dialogue element relied on a degree of goodwill on the part of provincial executives. This was not always forthcoming The project design had made little contingency provision to address a lack of political will to cooperate with the project.
Project Partner
JOINT, Mozambican NGOs league
Project Description
The project aimed to increase the knowledge and capacities of local organizations and marginalized groups; enhance dialogue among civil society and marginalized groups, private sectors and the government; and ensure participation of marginalized groups in the democratic processes and achievement of advocacy for civil rights protection and promotion. The project was implemented in seven districts of Manica province, in central Mozambique. While the project correctly identified issues of political participation and NGO capacity building that were of genuine concern in Manica province, there were weaknesses in project design - the project did not directly address the structural and operational weaknesses of NGOs. And while the project’s expected outcomes were weaker than planned, the fact that the activities that were planned in a remote province, in locations that were sometimes difficult to to access because of weather conditions and occasional political violence, was in itself a significant achievement
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: JOINT Contribution to Strengthen and Expand Democracy in Mozambique

The project lacked a media strategy to raise awareness about governance issues. Although references were made in the project document to addressing journalists at local level, there were no specific plans to develop an advocacy or media strategy. This could have involved, for example, the systematic use of local community radios to spread the project’s messages about governance.
Project Partner
JOINT, Mozambican NGOs league
Project Description
The project aimed to increase the knowledge and capacities of local organizations and marginalized groups; enhance dialogue among civil society and marginalized groups, private sectors and the government; and ensure participation of marginalized groups in the democratic processes and achievement of advocacy for civil rights protection and promotion. The project was implemented in seven districts of Manica province, in central Mozambique. While the project correctly identified issues of political participation and NGO capacity building that were of genuine concern in Manica province, there were weaknesses in project design - the project did not directly address the structural and operational weaknesses of NGOs. And while the project’s expected outcomes were weaker than planned, the fact that the activities that were planned in a remote province, in locations that were sometimes difficult to to access because of weather conditions and occasional political violence, was in itself a significant achievement
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth as Agents of Democratic Change through Knowledge and Information Acquisition and Exchange in Laos

The grantee (a) imposed on itself very ambitious target indicators, and (b) confused monitoring data, all of which made analysis and reporting of project outcomes less pertinent.
Project Partner
Participatory Development Training Center
Project Description
The project enhanced the technical capacity of youth group leaders to introduce rights-based development knowledge. It also supported leadership development, and therefore was a relevant effort to involve youth in democratic and participatory processes regarding the management and use of natural resources. In addition, trained teachers of 17 primary schools from 6 provinces developed locally relevant curricula introducing indigenous knowledge. Given the political and administrative realities, the identification of bio-diversity issues and general development challenges, rather than direct democracy issues, represented smart approaches to support participation in environmental policy formulation by youth. The youth’s field-work identified about 30 different bio-diversity themes and general development challenges, and subsequently suggestions were made related to farming practices, but also to the need to preserve local culture and traditions. In view of the appreciation expressed by central and provincial representatives, evaluators are of the view that the project effectively contributed to improved consideration of local and biodiversity knowledge in local community development processes.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Civil Society Empowerment in Advocacy and Policy Development in Vietnam

It is noteworthy that the 15 small grant advocacy projects all resulted in improvements or adjustments to implementation of regulations, changes in current government practice, or agreements for the CSO to take part in dialogue on the development of new policies and laws in Vietnam.
Project Partner
Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the participation of Vietnamese civil society organizations (CSOs) in democratic policy-making. The grantee sought to achieve this through: building the capacity of CSOs to advocate for democratic participation in the policy development process; enhancing networking, cooperation and communication among CSOs and related government bodies; implementation of existing legal frameworks and policies; and actual, successful participation of CSOs in the policy-making process. The objectives of the project were directly relevant to exploring new possibilities in civil society engagement with government agencies in Viet Nam on public policy, at both local and national levels. The project helped facilitate CSOs voice in discussions and problem-solving on issues of concern to particular disadvantaged and vulnerable communities.
Evaluation Date
June 2014
Country