sustainability

The general objective of the project was to reinforce the voice and influence of civil society in West and Central Africa to improve access to water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH). While the project addressed clearly defined needs for reinforcing capacity of WASH platforms and the platforms’ presence in consultation processes, its design did not sufficiently emphasize the needs for organizational capacity building, gender concerns in the consultation processes, and exchanges of information among participating platforms on issues of lobbying strategy. Achievements were adequate, especially in view of the vast geographical area covered by the project and the fact that the budgets devolved to each country were relatively limited. In terms of direct impact the project contributed to making attitudes within civil society organizations evolve towards a greater understanding of WASH access as a human right.

The goal of the project was the objective was to build a strong coalition to ensure the efficient management, conservation and protection of the Lake Lanao Watershed Reservation – through democratic processes involving community integration and the introduction of partnerships, pre-consultation, capacity building, the promotion of micro-projects, and monitoring of policy implementation. The design of the project’s training methodology was appropriate to introduce the basic concept of ecology, best management practices, and to raise awareness of applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations. The project contributed to the joint elaboration and adoption of environmental action plans, as well as supporting policies and ordinances on watershed, fisheries and solid waste management. Print and radio media outputs also facilitated the wider public’s key role in the protection of the environment and to empower individual citizens to participate in the enforcement of environmental laws. The grantee managed to work with the full range of different political, religious and social leaders in the Lanao Lake Watershed Reservation. This was reported by the beneficiaries as an unparalleled achievement.

The project sought to improve the quality of nongovernmental organizations’ (NGO) services and programmes by strengthening their capacity to effectively implement accountability standards. Its intended outcomes were: strengthened NGO capacity to implement accountability strategies and tools; strengthened capacity of donor community to foster participatory accountability within the NGO community; and increased public demand for greater NGO accountability to beneficiaries. The project design, however, was not well grounded in the larger concept of accountability, or in how donors incorporate these principles into the efforts they fund. It also did not take into consideration feedback received from potential partners and beneficiaries during the design, and did not adequately consult with donors who were identified as a target group.

Working with women’s community-based organizations and municipal authorities the project aimed to enhance the social and economic rights of women in Niger by supporting Gender Responsive Budgeting. Integrating a gender perspective into all steps of the municipal budget process, the project focused on improving the capacity of women to advocate municipalities to shape local budgetary policies which consider their health, education and water sanitation concerns. The project’s strategy of working directly with women community based organization members and municipal officials brought activities closer to beneficiaries in the five targeted municipalities of Niger. This approach was highly relevant to women as a beneficiary group, which for most part, rarely has a voice in public affairs and limited access to political decision-making processes.

The goal of the project was the objective was to build a strong coalition to ensure the efficient management, conservation and protection of the Lake Lanao Watershed Reservation – through democratic processes involving community integration and the introduction of partnerships, pre-consultation, capacity building, the promotion of micro-projects, and monitoring of policy implementation. The design of the project’s training methodology was appropriate to introduce the basic concept of ecology, best management practices, and to raise awareness of applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations. The project contributed to the joint elaboration and adoption of environmental action plans, as well as supporting policies and ordinances on watershed, fisheries and solid waste management. Print and radio media outputs also facilitated the wider public’s key role in the protection of the environment and to empower individual citizens to participate in the enforcement of environmental laws. The grantee managed to work with the full range of different political, religious and social leaders in the Lanao Lake Watershed Reservation. This was reported by the beneficiaries as an unparalleled achievement.

The overall objective of the project was to reinforce community dialogue and participatory democracy in the Western part of Cote d’Ivoire, with a view to enhancing social cohesion and the enhancement of democratic values at local level. To achieve this objective, the project had three outputs: Civil society organizations (CSOs) and the authorities are better equipped to use community support techniques; CSO’s providing support to communities on the management of conflicts; and enhanced involvement of local communities in development initiatives. The project was remarkably relevant, in that it correctly identified the lack of social cohesion as a major risk for conflict returning to the target areas. The project developed strategies and activities that specifically addressed the needs of the local communities and those of the CSOs working with them. However, the project design phase did not sufficiently involve the communities and CSOs, and the project should have involved more technical experts.

The overall objective of the project was to reinforce community dialogue and participatory democracy in the Western part of Cote d’Ivoire, with a view to enhancing social cohesion and the enhancement of democratic values at local level. To achieve this objective, the project had three outputs: Civil society organizations (CSOs) and the authorities are better equipped to use community support techniques; CSO’s providing support to communities on the management of conflicts; and enhanced involvement of local communities in development initiatives. The project was remarkably relevant, in that it correctly identified the lack of social cohesion as a major risk for conflict returning to the target areas. The project developed strategies and activities that specifically addressed the needs of the local communities and those of the CSOs working with them. However, the project design phase did not sufficiently involve the communities and CSOs, and the project should have involved more technical experts.

The project's objective was to strengthen institutional capacity of three independent CSOs working with rural women’s groups so that they could establish associations of self-help groups and promote inclusive participatory dialogue with authorities. Working from a UNDP model, the project focused on three aspects: transparency and accountability; rights awareness and advocacy; and linkages with other community-level groups. The project was exemplary in its effectiveness, both in terms of the clarity of outcomes to be achieved (and activities to achieve them) and of quantitative and qualitative standards of achievement. It raised awareness of voters’ and women’s rights, and initiated engagement between local officials and rural communities. This is also an example of a project where sustainability was included in the design. The capacity building activities included supporting partner organizations achieve a degree of financial independence, by providing technical advice on project design and management, and by helping them develop internal governance and accountability systems.

The project aimed to strengthen the ongoing decentralization process by involving the local population in local development planning. Activities included setting up and training members of cantonal / communal development committees and prefectural development committees in charge of identifying and prioritizing local development needs in order to enhance democratic governance. Support to the annual local development planning process included the implementation of 15 micro-projects which were part of the agreed local development plans, as well as awareness-raising campaigns on decentralization, local development and the roles of local civil servants and citizens. The project strategy was coherent and designed to complement the grantee’s ongoing local governance support programme. The project was implemented by an international and a local partner NGO. The lack of a specific agreement between the grantee and its local partne, however, contributed to a lack of attention to the project specific elements within the wider development programme.

The project had four objectives: to increase and improve gender-sensitive media coverage of issues affecting women in marginalized communities, in traditional/mainstream media in Zimbabwe; to create tools and use non-traditional media to disseminate and exchange information; to increase the capacity of marginalized women to use social media to access human rights information and freely express themselves on political, social, economic and cultural issues; and to increase marginalized women’s participation in policy dialogues and decision-making in target communities. The project was implemented in 10 communities across Zimbabwe and was designed to benefit over 7,000 women through activities including training of citizens journalists, and professional journalists in gender-sensitive reporting; the production of phone-in radio programmes; mentoring of student journalists; and use of Internet-based platforms for sharing information. The project was based on a good analysis of the gender inequalities faced by marginalized women in relation to access to information, awareness of their rights and exercise of political participation. Nevertheless, the project’s relevance was marred by its overambitious design and a lack of prioritization among its various objectives and approaches.