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Project: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda
Evaluation Date: July 2023
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

It is vital to document and present evidence of how a project meets target indicators in the delivery of its activities both for internal learning but also to be able to demonstrate effectiveness and impact in a robust and comprehensive way. This requires a dedicated person in charge of monitoring, evaluating, and learning.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Uganda analysis, credibility, evaluation, expertise, goals, impact, knowledge, learning, measure, monitoring, objectives, outputs, project management, quality control, reporting, results, results framework, staff, transparency

Project: Strengthening Democracy Through LGBT Political Participation in South Africa
Evaluation Date: August 2023
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Efficient communication between project and finance management staff, and between grantees and implementing partners, is key to ensuring the delivery of projects in challenging conditions, such as during a global pandemic or when significant staff changes take place, especially when adaptive programming is required.

Theme: Rule of law

South Africa budget, collaborate, communicate, complex, Coordinate, decision making, funding, monitoring, outputs, partnership, planning, project management, resources, results, Risks, transparency

Project: Jeunesse et participation électorale au Burkina Faso
Evaluation Date: May 2022
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

When supporting electoral processes there is clear value in working “upstream” to cover, and connect, key aspects of the full electoral cycle (e.g. registration, awareness raising, monitoring, conflict prevention and resolution) before the election event itself. Where possible, this can also include linkages with initiatives promoting access to information and freedom of speech – i.e. ensuring that electoral choices are as well informed as possible and contribute to community dialogue and improving social cohesion. A new civil society platform for the Sahel, the Coalition citoyenne pour le Sahel, appears to be a promising forum just such interaction.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Burkina Faso credibility, democracy, elections, Electoral, participation, transparency

Build communication channels across all regions, not just capital cities

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

Lesson Learned:

Primary victims of conflict and insecurity in post-conflict and fragile states are often located far away from capital cities – where decision-making and consultation processes are centralised – and their voices are too often overlooked. There was an appetite amongst both Civil Society Organisations and uniformed personnel to take part in joint focus group discussions, and there was a constructive dialogue around improving communication between civil society and defense and security forces at the local level

Theme: Interaction with government

Mali decentralize, decision making, dialogue, inclusion, inclusive, local, participation, relevant, transparency

Project: Addressing Ghana’s Governance Deficits through Constitutional Reform
Evaluation Date: December 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The county/local level can be a more effective playing field on which to make improvements to government transparency and accountability. Not only are county/local level efforts more attainable than changes to national ones, but they often have more direct and bigger impacts on citizens lives on a day to day basis. This strategy can be made even more effective by making requests for these improvements in the run-up to election proccesses. These commitments can in turn be used to hold officials accountable when in office.

Theme: Rule of law

Liberia Accountability, local, local government, transparency

Project: Creative Communication of the Nigerian Budget
Evaluation Date: July 2018
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Consider the views and opinions of parliamentary representatives who are championing budgetary transparency. In order to promote greater participation by legislators and policy makers, the grantee should engage more closely with the Budget Teams in Parliament to build their capacity and demystify their activities.

Theme: Media

Nigeria Alliances, Parliamentarians, transparency

Project: Strengthening Local NGOs in Areas Where Extractive Industries Operate
Evaluation Date: June 2013
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

Most of the 12 microprojects selected involved business opportunities in agroindustry and farming. There was no specific mechanism to review the results of NGO microprojects . This was a missed opportunity. Reviewing the results in a workshop could have built broader support for the changes advocated at the local and government level. This was not an effective way to help local actors make their voices heard by authorities and private enterprises or to facilitate trust-building and dialogue on how corporate social responsibility should be managed and how to involve NGOs as CSR partners.

Theme: Community activism

Indonesia Accountability, CSR, transparency

Project: Citizen Participation to Improve Local Governance
Evaluation Date: January 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The vast majority of the grassroots organizations involved valued how the project promoted public participation as a counterweight to public authorities. Most of the targeted municipalities in Benin have organized public hearings on budget resources. In addition, the participation mechanism has enabled elected officials to use consultative methods to determine local priorities with the participation of the grassroots population.

Theme: Community activism

Benin participation, transparency

Project: Promoting Freedom of Information Activism at the Local Level in Brazil
Evaluation Date: April 2014
Report: [report link]

Lesson Learned:

The project successfully linked access to information with the promotion of civil rights and therefore demonstrated that enforcing the law can change people’s lives. Given that the project took place in small cities, where citizens’ right to participate in public affairs is rarely acknowledged, this link was significant. One of the project’s strong points was its strategy to provide training and information about the importance of transparency in democracy and citizen involvement in public affairs.

Theme: Community activism

Brazil information, municipal, participation, transparency

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

Lesson Learned:

One of the grantee’s implementation partners perpetrated significant fraud and had to be excluded from the project. Thanks to the solvency of the grantee, its organisation was able to find appropriate solutions to respond to these situations: using its own funds, it paid out an amount equivalent to the fraud in order to guarantee the implementation of the activities that had been initially planned. Financial and technical follow-up procedures were developed to ensure transparency in the management and to guarantee a good level of efficiency. Moreover, the grantee provided support and reinforcement of the capabilities of its implementation partners in financial and technical areas as well as in managing human resources.

Theme: Women's empowerment

Honduras finance, management, transparency

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