politics

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

The original project design foresaw training of journalists and the placement of a number of articles in the media, but this was not done. The political realities of Myanmar, at a time of heightened political sensitivity around election, made working with the media – especially within a project clearly labelled “deepening democratization processes” – impossible. This should have been anticipated when the project was designed.

Theme: Youth engagement
Myanmar   , ,
Project: Civil society advocating for quality education & healthcare in Mexico
Evaluation Date: February 2012
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The electoral process was blamed by the grantee for delays and difficulties in implementation. It apparently politicized the CSOs affiliated with the network in Guerrero and disrupted project coherence during large periods of time. In Hidalgo and Chiapas, project implementation did not appear to be affected by the political processes. Participants referred to the need to “start over” when new officials came into office because they felt that each party had different agendas and would not necessarily continue the work started under a previous administration.

Theme: Tools for knowledge
Mexico   , ,
Project: The National Campaign towards Muslim Family Law Reform (MFL Campaign) in Malaysia
Evaluation Date: March 2016
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The major assumption underlying the project, which was also its main risk, was the ability of grantee to secure meetings with relevant government stakeholders. Grantee intended to mitigate this risk through the use of different strategies to pressure the government for meetings, including a concerted media strategy and activities with grassroots women. In the report on the convention the grantee stated that they invited 50 MPs and only the opposition MPs replied. These MPs felt it was important to discuss the problem of women and gender discrimination but noted that there was a general fear among politicians and the population to voice different opinions as they would then be branded as too progressive or liberal.

Theme: Rule of law
Malaysia   , ,
Project: Gender Equality and Equity - Follow Up to CEDAW and Romani women
Evaluation Date: November 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

In two of its components, the project was fighting an uphill battle to get the attention of potential partners. The first component concerned Roma political parties, and, the second, municipal government and cooperation with the Equality Commissions (committees) of the municipal councils. The lack of interest by these partners highlights the absence of effective political representation of Roma and their interests in a “patron-client” political system, where parties do a poor job of representing the priorities of their constituencies, or of responding to their concerns. The parties saw no benefits in opening themselves to cooperation with an NGO which they did not trust. There seems to be little interest on the part of local government units in committing resources to Roma issues, and Roma tend to be invisible in local decision-making. The work supported by the project in two of the three municipalities was useful, but had no impact in changing the disposition of local government towards Roma and Roma women’s organizations.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)   , ,
Project: Gender Equality and Equity - Follow Up to CEDAW and Romani women
Evaluation Date: November 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

Despite earlier expressions of interest, at a time leading up to national elections, and despite persistent efforts by grantee, the political parties proved to be unwilling to share their programmes, or to meet with the expert retained by grantee to discuss the issue of gender equality. The grantee prepared a short, informative handbook, “Because It Matters: Empowerment of Women in Political Parties”. A public meeting was held to launch the publication, and, among others, representatives of three of the six official Roma parties attended. Copies were distributed to all the Roma parties, as well as to NGOs and women activists. While this alternative was very much a “second best” option, it did represent a thoughtful way to rescue the situation and keep the issue alive.

Theme: Women's empowerment
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)   , , ,
Project: Prévention de la violence durant la période électorale de 2010
Evaluation Date: November 2011
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The logic of intervention of this project did not fully take into account the rift that exists between the centre and the periphery in Burundi: between the governing and the elected community and collines representatives, who for the main part merely execute power. The project intervention logic overestimated the level of impetus that could come from community leaders. The theory according to which the grassroots population would become more dynamic if only they knew their leaders better was overly optimistic, especially when considering the level of education that these populations have and the traumatic war experiences that are still very present within these communities.

Theme: Rule of law
Burundi   , , ,