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Maintain good links with key actors in the International Community as well as national government stakeholders

Project: Strengthening CSO Engagement with Defence Institutions to Reduce Corruption and Strengthen Accountability in Mali
Evaluation Date: February 2021
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

In a crowded donor environment with multiple civil society actors, and a highly volatile and dynamic political and security context, the project demonstrated the need to maintain good links with key actors in the International Community as well as national government stakeholders. This requires an investment in time and resources. To ensure longer-term durability and sustainability of projects, considerations for mobilising and engaging with the international community should be an integral part of Civil Society Organisation planning and strategy.

Theme: Interaction with government

Mali community, Coordinate, donor, plan, planning, resources, stakeholder, sustainable

Project: Towards a Rights-based Political Culture for the Political Participation of the Dominican Population of Haitian Origin
Evaluation Date: November 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

When the project tackles long-standing generational issues (as is the case in this project), the methodology used to guide the intervention plays a key role in project impact.

The use of a ‘Theory of Change’ (ToC) approach can help with looking beyond the logical framework to collectively construct a clear understanding of the transformations sought by the project.

The use of a ToC approach can help…:
1) Organizational awareness of the need to review and update the assumptions used in the initial project design
2) Simplify the nature of the context and determine whether the initially established conditions for change have been maintained
3) Redefine new strategies as needed

Theme: Rule of law

Dominican Republic context, impact, implementation, planning

Project: Am I Equal in Kosovo Society?
Evaluation Date: July 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Grantees should conduct a pre-project assessment that establishes what the project activities’ inherent risks are (e.g: non-participation, disinterest, feasibility issues) as well as the underlying reasons for said issues in order to mitigate project risks.

Theme: Media

Kosovo local knowledge, objectives, planning, risk

Project: Fostering Ethical Democracy and Advancing Micro Justice in India
Evaluation Date: September 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

This project provides a good model of planning for project sustainability. The grantee planned for sustainability in every component of the project, leaving nothing to change. This particular grantee’s experience suggests that projects that deliver tangible benefits to communities may be sustained by those communities themselves.

Theme: Rule of law

India planning, sustainability

Project: Advancing the rights of women in the West Bank periphery, Palestine
Evaluation Date: February 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project’s focus was unusual as it specifically focused on urban planning as a tool for the empowerment of women within their communities and the labour market in Palestine. This innovative approach to equipping women with skills and understanding that gave them a comparative advantage – particularly in forums where they and the voices of women in general are traditionally under-represented such as local government bodies – was highly relevant.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Palestine empowerment, planning, urban

Project: Young Builders of a New Citizenship In Chad
Evaluation Date: December 2015
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The establishment of youth platforms was not linked to any particular task or mission for youth action; and the elaboration of a national plan was not linked to priorities for action nor were there any financial resources for implementation. The survey which was supposed to enhance the skills of the young people was not published and did not capture the information needed for youth advocacy towards public authorities.

Theme: Youth engagement

Chad planning, platform

Project: Strengthening Citizenship and Consolidation of Democracy in Chad
Evaluation Date: February 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

There were recurrent problems with organizing the permanent observatory for national and local electoral consultations proposed by the project as different stakeholders could not agree on key elements of the observatory. This outcome was too ambitious in relation to the operational capacity and staff involved with managing the project.

Theme: Community activism

Chad planning, resources

Project: Democratic Dialogue through Media in Sierra Leone
Evaluation Date: March 2011
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Flaws in design and strategy hampered the relevance of the project: lack of explicit engagement with editors/publishers and with relevant high-level institutional actors. These weaknesses were already visible in the project document: the “Situation Analysis” section appropriately identified the needs summarised above, as well as the views of civil society about the media, but did not provide an analysis of the causes of the identified weaknesses. The project document lacked an explicit stakeholder analysis that would have identified the project’s planned level of engagement with each stakeholder, the message directed at them and the engagement techniques to be used. In other words, the project document was built on the assumption that improving journalistic skills in human rights reporting, together with activities such as NGO and community training, would lead to enhanced democratic debate. But there was no explicit description of how these results would derive from the planned activities.

Theme: Media

Sierra Leone planning, project design, stakeholder, strategy

Project: Expanding and Fortifying Local Democracy through the People’s Council in the Philippines
Evaluation Date: January 2016
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The main challenge for the grantee in managing the project was the fact that the both the scope of the programme and the number of partners were too large. This resulted in a project that was overextended and staff who were overstretched. Not surprisingly, the gap between project needs and human resource capabilities did result in a few deficiencies in performance, including a lack of attention to documentation of activities and a weakness in some aspects of training planning and delivery.

Theme: Community activism

Philippines budget, planning, scope

Project: Engendering democratic governance in South Asia
Evaluation Date: May 2012
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Review the budget monthly and, when it becomes clear that there will be unspent funds, discuss immediately with the donor how these funds might be reallocated within the project to reinforce other components of the project.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan budget, donor, planning

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