participation

The project was designed to engage young people from marginalized populations in four regions of Thailand, to empower them to voice their needs, access their rights, participate in political processes, and improve their lives and communities. The grantee set out to create new leaders among young people to lead actions in the disenfranchised communities. While the project supported the implementing partners financially and to a lesser extent with expertise, it did not demonstrate significant added-value in the area of democratic development. The trainees were by and large already engaged in development work in their communities and, once the project ended, the partners and the young people continued as before. The project designers would have been more aware of this, and potentially had a chance to rethink the relevance of the design, if they had reviewed existing and earlier practice in this area, and had considered in more depth the way NGOs in the regions work and from where they get their funding. The project fell into the trap of becoming, essentially, a short-term provider of funds.

The project organized women into informal Women's Democracy Forums to build a culture of collaboration between marginalized women from different social backgrounds in five Nepalese districts. It intended to give women a voice at the district and village level by providing information, education, and communication materials and offering training courses on women's rights. Project activities combined traditional and alternative means of communication, such as street theater. This oral mode of education was adapted to the needs of remote communities. The project's visibility was also enhanced by the production of weekly radio programs; 72 episodes on the political empowerment of women and democratic processes were produced and broadcast over a six–month period. Local authorities and grassroots resource persons increased their commitment to the political inclusion of women. All of these activities were innovative in these Nepalese districts and were skillfully carried out by the implementing team. All activities were successfully concluded and delivered results over and above expectations.

The project organized women into informal Women's Democracy Forums to build a culture of collaboration between marginalized women from different social backgrounds in five Nepalese districts. It intended to give women a voice at the district and village level by providing information, education, and communication materials and offering training courses on women's rights. Project activities combined traditional and alternative means of communication, such as street theater. This oral mode of education was adapted to the needs of remote communities. The project's visibility was also enhanced by the production of weekly radio programs; 72 episodes on the political empowerment of women and democratic processes were produced and broadcast over a six–month period. Local authorities and grassroots resource persons increased their commitment to the political inclusion of women. All of these activities were innovative in these Nepalese districts and were skillfully carried out by the implementing team. All activities were successfully concluded and delivered results over and above expectations.

The project was conducted by Center Women and Modern World (CWMW) in partnership with Baku Volunteer Center (BVC), and New Shamakhi Foundation (NSHF). The project was directed promote democratic values and mobilize women for participation in elections. I’s primary focus was on involving women in elections with journalists and local NGO heads as secondary beneficiaries. The project was carried out in 10 regions located close to Shamakhi, which is three hours’ drive outside the capital Baku.