Skip to main content

grassroots

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enabling National Initiatives to Take Democracy Beyond Elections

Adapting standardised models that are built on globally accepted principles to local contextual realities is essential for the successful implementation of deliberative democracy approaches. This extends to the selection of members and the approaches used to engage stakeholders and is most effectively done in partnership with a credible local organization that is interested in, or has a track record working on, similar initiatives. In this case UNDEF’s Implementing Partner chose to work with organizations and individuals with local connections and knowledge that complemented well its own practical experience with Citizen Assemblies.

Project Partner
The newDemocracy Foundation
Project Description

Making democracies more inclusive requires bold and innovative reforms to bring the young, the poor, and minorities into the political system. Some countries have piloted initiatives for assemblies on specific issues where members are not nominated by political parties but chosen at random for a limited term to represent all sectors of society, to prevent the formation of self-serving and self-perpetuating political classes disconnected from their electorates. The project aims to enable more countries to develop initiatives of this kind. It will develop and distribute a handbook on ‘Democracy Beyond Elections’ designed to show how nations at various levels of development can apply the principles of representation and deliberation in ways that are appropriate to their economic and educational circumstances. The project will fund three pilot projects to further the demonstration effect and produce a documentary based on one of these to demonstrate how deliberative democracy can work in practice. Among citizens, the project will work to build the sense that ordinary people are involved in making decisions that affect them, and thus to promote trust in Government. Among elected representatives, the project will work to stimulate a greater openness to complementary democratic models in which citizens explore and recommend policy solutions on key issues.

Evaluation Date
March 2025
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Independent Media in the Arab Region

Another multi-faceted benefit of regional partnerships are the synergies that are created on the national level stemming from local partners that bring different experiences and lessons learned to the fore. In this case, the Moroccan partner focuses on producing stories in multiple vernacular languages for community-level resonance and highlights the role of communitarian media as garnering legitimacy among listeners and readers at the local level. In Tunisia, the local office brings a large network of journalists, media professionals, and engaged civic organizations to the project that helps informing on navigating complex legal frameworks governing information access.

Project Partner
Journalist for Human Rights
Project Description

The project aims to strengthen independent media in the Arab region so as to build greater accountability and better governance, by improving the working environment for journalists; advancing media freedom and accessible information and data; enhancing the capacity of freelance and full-time journalists to cover sensitive human rights stories; and improving journalists’ legal knowledge through strong working partnerships with civic actors. Project activities also incorporate responses to the Covid-19 crisis for journalists on the front line.

Evaluation Date
February 2025
Theme
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Gender-Responsive Local Government in Nepal

Women’s participation in political change processes not only enhances gender equality, but it also makes a positive contribution to local development outcomes. The present project experience clearly demonstrates the transformative impact of women’s inclusion in local development in the shape of a number of local needs-based infrastructure schemes undertaken by the Women Musahar Empowerment Forums in their Municipalities.

Project Partner
South Asia Partnership Nepal
Project Description

The project aims to empower Musahar women and strengthen their representation in local decision-making procedures for promoting gender-responsive local governance in two rural municipalities and two town municipalities. It will work through three main approaches:empowerment of Musahar women to claim their rights, accountability of local government authorities, and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for gender-responsive local governance.

Evaluation Date
December 2024
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Gender-Responsive Local Government in Nepal

An effective way to address the structural barriers that marginalized women may face in accessing formal political space, is to start with building localized platforms and relevant capacities and gradually scaling up the effort to connect to formal institutional structures. In the present project, this was demonstrated successfully by the creation of the local Women Musahar Empowerment Forums which were eventually scaled up to district-level platforms as well as connected to the National Musahar Association.

Project Partner
South Asia Partnership Nepal
Project Description

The project aims to empower Musahar women and strengthen their representation in local decision-making procedures for promoting gender-responsive local governance in two rural municipalities and two town municipalities. It will work through three main approaches:empowerment of Musahar women to claim their rights, accountability of local government authorities, and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for gender-responsive local governance.

Evaluation Date
December 2024
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Gender-Responsive Local Government in Nepal

Livelihood support interventions can prove to be effective entry points in political empowerment initiatives, especially in the case of extremely marginalized and impoverished communities and should be considered as a strategic approach in project design. The present project experience clearly builds the case for linking economic and livelihood interventions to political empowerment evidenced through the successful establishment and continuation of the Musahar women led Cooperatives.

Project Partner
South Asia Partnership Nepal
Project Description

The project aims to empower Musahar women and strengthen their representation in local decision-making procedures for promoting gender-responsive local governance in two rural municipalities and two town municipalities. It will work through three main approaches:empowerment of Musahar women to claim their rights, accountability of local government authorities, and strengthening multi-stakeholder partnerships for gender-responsive local governance.

Evaluation Date
December 2024
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Safeguarding the Rights of Transgender & Intersex Communities in Pakistan

The project experience clearly indicates that project interventions when anchored in or leveraging existing government initiatives have greater stakeholder endorsement and higher chance to sustain. In this case, the grantee successfully tapped in and leveraged existing government initiatives that support, for example, the issuance of identity documentation as well as literacy and nonformal education.

Project Partner
Formation Awareness & Community Empowerment Society
Project Description
The project objective is to work for the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms of LGBTI persons, particularly transgender and intersex, in Lahore and Faisalabad districts. Expected outcomes include support for 5000 LGTQI/transgender persons; enhanced capacity of 50 civil society and human rights organizations; increased public awareness of LGBTI rights; registration of transgender and intersex persons for computerized national identity cards; improved policy framework and legal provision on the rights of transgender and intersex person.
Evaluation Date
March 2024
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizens: empowering local communities, improving local governance

The case of the grantee Zimam demonstrated that even though the organisation did not have a significant track record, the quality of the project proposal submitted by the grantee’s finance team could demonstrate their capability to manage funds. Indeed, UNDEF showed audacity and open-mindedness in agreeing to fund this young organisation.
Project Partner
Zimam for Creativity and Development
Project Description
Zimam’s Leadership Incubator wants to inspire young leaders and give them the confidence and training to inspire their communities. The program offers policy and problem-solving workshops, engagement and meetings with business, political, and social leaders, and opportunities for youth to implement their own initiatives aimed at social transformation. In doing so, we can empower young people to realize their potential as confident and capable change-makers who can lead their communities. Project activities also incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis as it impacts youth.
Evaluation Date
March 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Creating an Inclusive Policy and Legal System, Protecting Elderly People’s Fundamental Rights in Indonesia

The grantee organization LBH Apik and its local chapters are well-established grassroots organizations with internal systems and procedures in place. Building good rapport with local stakeholders was one of the key strengths of LBH Apik and a good strategy to secure commitment and can be continued in future programmes.

Project Partner
Indonesian Legal Aid Association for Women
Project Description
The aim of this project is to improve protection mechanisms and policies regarding basic rights and public services to the elderly. Three local partners, each located in one of the three targeted provinces will help complete the project. The project will collect data to close the evidence gap, raise public awareness, and enhance capacity building of the elderly and paralegals as they advocate to improve elderly programs and legal and public services at village and community levels. The project will include a strong gender focus by prioritizing women as paralegals and recipients of legal services.
Evaluation Date
January 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Media to Promote Inclusive Democracy in Mali

Sensitivity to local languages should be an essential part of project design and delivery in countries where such diversity exists (as was the case with this project in the use of Bambara for local radio broadcasting to maximise impact for non-French speaking listeners), though this may bring additional challenges in terms of measuring and evaluating the success of an intervention.
Project Partner
Journalists for Human Rights
Project Description
This two-year project aims at strengthening media to play a role in fostering an effective, inclusive and transparent democracy in Mali. Based on field assessments of media outlets and CSOs, the project will build the capacity of media to report on good governance and human rights issues, break the financial dependency on political sponsorship through training on business skills and greater sector accountability, and help journalists and civil society actors to work together on data projects.
Evaluation Date
January 2023
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Youth Partnership for Improved Budgetary Governance in Lebanese Municipalities: Musharaka

While many of the young participants have gone on to create their own organizations to implement local initiatives, this may not be sustainable. Given the challenges for grassroots organizations to survive and the lack of local backing, it may be more effective to channel the energy and investment of youth into collective alternatives working with existing structures that are more likely to survive and have a longer lasting impact.
Project Partner
Lebanese Transparency Association
Project Description
The project was a follow-up to an earlier initiative that targeted 15 municipalities in the six Lebanese governorates. Under the UNDEF grant, the project was an extension of the initial programme, more focused on the areas of Western and Northern Bekaa to ensure a greater impact at the country level. The aim of the project was to empower youth, and tje wider community through them, to render municipal councils of Western and Northern Bekaa more transparent and accountable. The project was divided into two phases: in the first phase, five democratically elected Youth Shadow Councils (YSCs) received thematic and technical training on good governance, advocacy strategies, conducting needs assessments, access to public services, and budget analysis. In the second phase, the elected council was responsible for training another group of participants in order to disseminate the principles of transparency and accountability and motivate citizens to advocate for reforms and get involved in their community’s development process. The project mobilized and trained 200 young women and men aged 17-29 in the municipalities of Der El Ahmar, Baalbeck, Taalbaya, Saadnayel, and Sawireh. It had a relevant and well-defined strategy with concrete indicators that facilitated the monitoring of achievement levels.
Evaluation Date
October 2014
Country