Project: Strengthening Municipal Capacity for Access to Public Information in El Salvador
Evaluation Date: August 2014
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The grantee created strategic alliances with three institutions of complementary capacities and competencies in an attempt to maximize impact. This allowed the issue to be raised in public educational centres, thereby significantly multiplying knowledge, and it enabled a more efficient deployment of resources. The grantee was a particularly important ally for the governmental Institute for Access to Public Information (IAPI) in El Salvador. However, IAPI’s institutional fragility kept it from capitalizing on the aid provided by the grantee by the end of the project. This could have been a key element to ensure a relevant and high-quality education process in other municipalities.

Theme: Rule of law
Project: Creating a Network of Young Reporters in Armenia
Evaluation Date: December 2014
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The grantee did not decentralize its manner of implementation or develop synergies with potential local partners and youth efforts which could have increased project efficiencies and added value to the project. The grantee implemented all of the trainings itself, using its existing staff and volunteers, some of whom they were able to hire then under the project as almost full-time tutors. There were no programmatic partnerships evident with local organizations or media outlets in the different regions which could have facilitated the grantee’s work and provided for continuity of effort with the youth when the grantee was not present or which could have helped to develop the links between the youth and their media products and the higher level democratic outcomes sought.

Theme: Media
Project: Media, Transparency and Accountability in Albania
Evaluation Date:
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Project activities could have been made more effective had they not been done in isolation from the other good governance and anti-corruption work being done in Albania. Developing synergies with other projects and organizations working on the same issues could have ensured follow-up to the issues uncovered by the grantee reports and Union activities. Link investigative reports with civic and legal action to maximize their effectiveness and ensure accountability. Work with other civil society organizations government Ombudsmen and other organizations, such as international non-governmental organizations working on issues of freedom of the media, protection of journalists and anti-corruption, as well as international organizations such as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other donor programs.

Theme: Media
Project: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola
Evaluation Date: March 2013
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The project also collaborated closely with the Ministry of the Family and Women’s Promotion  and the Women Parliamentarian’s Group10  in Angola. The purpose of this group, created in 1995, is to integrate the gender perspective into legislation, promote the exercise of women’s rights, and fight all forms of exclusion. Strategically, the selection of the project’s partner organizations was wise, especially in view of their potential impact and multiplier effect, since all of them were involved in the training activities.

Theme: Women's empowerment