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LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Good Governance among Tribal Inhabitants in Bangladesh (PROGGATI)

Exchanges between traditional tribal communities and government officials had been rare prior to the project. The efforts to link traditional with local government officials established some lasting individual relationships, and these types of exchanges may continue as the project activities have set an important precedent.
Project Partner
Green Hill
Project Description
The project aimed to increase the political participation of indigenous (tribal) communities and community based organizations (CBOs) in the Rangamati Hill District of Bangladesh leading to an increase in their demand for more responsive public services and policies. The project set out to do this by increasing the dialogue between formal and traditional forms of local governance. Specifically, the project’s objectives were: enhance the capacities of local government leaders, CBOs and tribal community leaders; enable better coordination between stakeholders; and, promote democratic processes to ensure pro-poor service delivery and resource allocation. Its intended outcomes were: empowered CBOs and alternative community leaders; improved participation by traditional community leaders in the formal governance system; increased women’s participation; more pro-poor gender-sensitive local services; greater trust between the different stakeholders - indigenous inhabitants, Bengalis, CBOs and local government - and regular media reporting on governance issues in the Rangamati Hill District. The project did seem to help resolve small but important issues for the communities, and helped to increase the visibility of the open budget system by promoting its use by its committees. It also seems to have increased the general level of awareness of project participants on governance issues.
Evaluation Date
December 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society to Monitor Development Programmes in Tanzania

The annual CSO forum, which was expected to become the Dodoma region’s future driver of advocacy and lobbying for local development planning and implementation, did not take place. The grantee in Tanzania was unable to ensure ongoing coordination to secure the participation of district-level government representatives.
Project Partner
Dodoma Environmental Network
Project Description
The project in Tanzania targeted civil society in the Dodoma region. Most of the population depends on agriculture. The grantee worked with farmers and pastoralists as well as local NGOs, local government officials and community members, to develop more inclusive and responsive development policies, strategies and programmes. The grantee combined awareness raising activities focusing on development programmes to enhance the local population’s engagement in policy dialogue and advocacy with capacity building in development programme process monitoring.
Evaluation Date
December 2012
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The project continued many of the elements of an earlier UNDEF-funded project implemented by another CSO consortium. It took over its Advisory Group of about 20 CSOs that met to discuss legislative issues targeting the Assembly of Kosovo, and expanded that group to include a wider range of CSOs and issues related to government consultations and policy making.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The approach of addressing demand and supply for CSO input was efficient as well as effective as it built government support for and use of CSO input at the same time as working to ensure that the CSOs would be able to respond constructively to those openings. The choice of governmental partners was also effective, as these offices were directly responsible for setting the standards for consultations and ensuring compliance with them in all government and municipal drafting in Kosovo.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The project led to successful collaborations between civil society organizations and the legal offices of the Office of the Prime Minister and Ministry of Local Government Administration. This improved the flow of information and quality of public consultations. There was an impressive range of participation from civil society and government, and they worked on a wide range of issues and regulations and legislation.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

As the project worked to change the structure of consultations rather than working on a specific law or case, it should have a wide impact. The institutionalization of government reforms made consultations less dependent on the individual good will of a public official. Further consolidation of these reforms was expected with the anticipated adoption of the Governmental Strategy for Cooperation with Civil Society. Much of that strategy is reportedly based on the contents of the manual that the project helped develop.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

The impact of the project activities on the LDC-IV outcome document is questionable. Few respondents considered that CSO efforts had translated into impact on the outcome of LDC-IV (the IP0A), which is essentially a political outcome decided by governments.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Human Rights Education for the Police

Although the line authority for higher education in Kazakhstan did not veto the objectives nor the timeline for activities during the project's initial consultations, whether human rights training will become a mandatory discipline for Kazakhstan's police academies was still vague at the time of the evaluation. The grantee should have maintained an ongoing communication and coordination with the Ministry of Education to secure its approval.
Project Partner
Kazakh International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
Project Description
Aiming to improve human rights protection of citizens in Kazakhstan, the project developed a human rights education course for introduction into the curricula of Kazakh institutions training future police officers. The project involved training staff involved in educating police recruits. Outputs aimed to ensure that graduates from this human rights training programme exercise their functions taking into account international human rights standards. However, the project's ultimate impact - the mandatory introduction of human rights training into the police academies' curriculum - remained unachieved.
Evaluation Date
May 2012
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Nigeria Procurement Monitoring Project

Efforts to work closely with the legislature began well, with the Committee on Public Procurement of the House of Representatives willing to follow up on concrete problems identified in meetings with grantee and its allies. However, the 2011 parliamentary elections brought about a wholesale change in the membership of both houses of the National Assembly. The leading champions of reform in public procurement were defeated, and there was no longer an interest among elected members in working closely with grantee, although a positive working relationship was established with the parliamentary secretariat.
Project Partner
Public & Private Development Centre
Project Description
The project’s overall objective was to increase the effectiveness of procurement monitoring by non-state actors following the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007 in Nigeria. The project was built on a thorough analysis of the current situation regarding government procurement and mechanisms for monitoring and reporting on the process. The publication of two carefully researched annual assessment reports on the state of public procurement and stakeholder knowledge of PPA requirements proved effective for connecting public procurement and integrity in governance. The development of new tools for training of trainers in procurement monitoring and the training of 33 monitors were also valuable. Efforts to work closely with the legislature began well. However, the 2011 Parliamentary Elections brought about a wholesale change in the membership of both houses of the National Assembly. The leading champions of reform in regard to public procurement were defeated, and there was no longer an interest among elected members in working closely with PPDC, although a positive working relationship was established with the parliamentary secretariat.
Evaluation Date
April 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Educating Rural Women in Haiti for Democratic Citizenship

The project should have included a phase for consolidation of its achievements. This would have helped provide sustainable and real opportunities for women to have a presence in public life. This could have been through an institutional partnership with all pertinent government institutions that participated in the project and should have involved continued social mobilization raising collective social awareness.
Project Partner
Association Femmes Soleil d"Haiti
Project Description
The project objective was to strengthen the citizenship and democratic skills of women. With virtually no access to civic information and limited opportunities for women to participate in political life including access to positions that involve decision-making, especially in rural areas, the grantee aimed to raise awareness among local authorities and strategic civil society organizations in Haiti, so they would become more engaged in promoting a culture that recognizes the role of women in society, fostering in women and men alike a new perspective on their political participation. The project was implemented in twenty rural communes, notably in very remote, virtually ignored sections of Haiti, which lacked basic, educational and health services. With regards to its objective, the project was fully aligned with current government priorities, and in the context of elections, it recognized the need for women to participate fully in the electoral process, as well as in political affairs and to become aware of their civil rights and rights as citizens.
Evaluation Date
March 2012
Country