Lessons

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.

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

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.

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.

The objective of the project was to increase the participation of youth in the democratic processes in Pakistan. The project was relevant as it started two years before the national election, which was expected to be the first time that a civilian government would hand over power to another civilian government through the ballot box. The project was also relevant to the need to strengthen the democratic awareness and understanding of the youth in Pakistan: youth form the majority of the population and in surveys less than a third thought that democracy was the best form of government. The project strategy was to form Youth Democracy Teams which would then organize meetings with other youth in the districts, and extending project reach through the use of theatre, print, broadcast, and social media. However the project was not properly documented and activities and outputs were not recorded so it is impossible to assess if the project had any impact.

The project sought to empower indigenous people from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Through jurisdictional resolutions or agreements, the project worked to reduce the number of conflicts between the indigenous legal system, on the one hand, and the state legal system, on the other, seeking to establish precedents for harmonizing the two systems. The project’s intervention was very timely and highly relevant, given the recent changes in the legal framework, especially the passage of subsidiary legislation and a new energy policy. It provided legal assistance and representation before jurisdictional, judicial, and administrative bodies in the State of Oaxaca. Politically, the project made it possible to include the indigenous peoples’ perspective and expectations in the Constitutional Reform proposal for Oaxaca. The project’s support for empowering indigenous women’s groups had a major impact on the lives of the beneficiaries as well as the development and improvement of institutional and democratic life in the State of Oaxaca.

The project aimed to provide socially and economically impoverished women in India with the ability to participate in the democratic process and to strengthen their capacity to make decisions at individual, family and community levels. In addition to Computerized Vocational and Educational Training (CVET), which qualified beneficiaries for a wider range of employment opportunities and thus widen for them the scope of possibilities to achieve financial independence, Life Enrichment Education (LEE) activities, which comprised of video lectures and animated group discussions, complemented the women trainee’s entrepreneurial skills with democratic values and civic awareness, in order to transform them post-graduation into empowered participants of their local communities.

The project aimed to provide socially and economically impoverished women in India with the ability to participate in the democratic process and to strengthen their capacity to make decisions at individual, family and community levels. In addition to Computerized Vocational and Educational Training (CVET), which qualified beneficiaries for a wider range of employment opportunities and thus widen for them the scope of possibilities to achieve financial independence, Life Enrichment Education (LEE) activities, which comprised of video lectures and animated group discussions, complemented the women trainee’s entrepreneurial skills with democratic values and civic awareness, in order to transform them post-graduation into empowered participants of their local communities.

The project aimed to provide socially and economically impoverished women in India with the ability to participate in the democratic process and to strengthen their capacity to make decisions at individual, family and community levels. In addition to Computerized Vocational and Educational Training (CVET), which qualified beneficiaries for a wider range of employment opportunities and thus widen for them the scope of possibilities to achieve financial independence, Life Enrichment Education (LEE) activities, which comprised of video lectures and animated group discussions, complemented the women trainee’s entrepreneurial skills with democratic values and civic awareness, in order to transform them post-graduation into empowered participants of their local communities.

The project sought to empower indigenous people from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. Through jurisdictional resolutions or agreements, the project worked to reduce the number of conflicts between the indigenous legal system, on the one hand, and the state legal system, on the other, seeking to establish precedents for harmonizing the two systems. The project’s intervention was very timely and highly relevant, given the recent changes in the legal framework, especially the passage of subsidiary legislation and a new energy policy. It provided legal assistance and representation before jurisdictional, judicial, and administrative bodies in the State of Oaxaca. Politically, the project made it possible to include the indigenous peoples’ perspective and expectations in the Constitutional Reform proposal for Oaxaca. The project’s support for empowering indigenous women’s groups had a major impact on the lives of the beneficiaries as well as the development and improvement of institutional and democratic life in the State of Oaxaca.