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legitimacy

Project: Empowering Civil Society and Women to Engage in Policy Processes
Evaluation Date: August 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Despite the coup d’état in Honduras, the project built up and maintained ‘spaces for visibility on women’s issues’. Thus the project strengthened women’s knowledge of their rights and their capabilities to defend and exercise these rights. It also provided women with a privileged place to participate in politics. The project therefore greatly contributed to the empowerment of women in a socio-political context that was characterised by the weakening, instability and lack of legitimacy of the spaces for democratic participation.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Honduras crisis, legitimacy, participation

Project: Addressing Ghana’s Governance Deficits through Constitutional Reform
Evaluation Date: July 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The forming of the Civil Society Coalition in Ghana, which included around 40 major national organizations from a variety of backgrounds, demonstrated the grantee’s convening power. All project events and documents were presented under the auspices of the Coalition. This gave considerable weight and legitimacy to the proposals presented in the eyes of the public, the media and the Constitutional Review Commission itself.

Theme: Interaction with government

Ghana coalition, legitimacy, reform

Project: Deepening Democratization Processes Through Youth Leadership in Myanmar
Evaluation Date: September 2010
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project was carefully planned to work within remaining restrictions and designed not to create conflict or controversy, to ensure that participants at the grassroots level were not put at unnecessary risk. Its design as part of a broader, longer-term undertaking means that it is embedded in processes that already have legitimacy among both communities and authorities.

Theme: Youth engagement

Myanmar design, legitimacy, politics, social capital

Project: Civil Society Monitoring of Governorate Councils in Iraq
Evaluation Date: August 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

As civilian oversight was a politically sensitive issue in Iraq, the support from an international third party like UNDEF added explicit value to the project. The legitimacy provided by the UN label alongside the grantee’s credibility and networking skills gave reassurance to both government and civil society partners in undertaking or supporting the initiative.

Theme: Interaction with government

Iraq funding, legitimacy

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