Create trust with the government

Project: Campagne d’Education au respect des Principes Démocratiques et Promotion du dialogue Démocratique au Burundi
Evaluation Date: November 2014
Report: [report link]
Lesson Learned:

The grantee did not differentiate between political leaders and elected members when targeting participants. All elected members are not always political leaders and vice versa. The grantee did not take into account the pyramidal structure of political parties in Burundi in which only few people decide for all members. Interviewees’ comments showed that beneficiaries do not consider themselves as autonomous political actors who can activate internal changes within their own political parties. The change of beneficiaries’ perceptions is essentially individual opinions, which are not able to have an impact on political parties’ practices.

Theme: Community activism
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