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Lessons

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The grantee had set indicators for sustainability that related to individual follow-up, and these were largely met. There were many examples of participants following up the project with individual initiatives, and additionally the grantee continues to engage with the participants through a monthly discussion group, on-line forum and informal contacts in Palestine.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

Restrictions on movement in Palestine were taken into account in project implementation as far as possible, however they are a significant hurdle to full implementation and effectiveness as well as to impact.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The impact of the project was significant at an individual level, with a number of participants putting their training into action within their communities in Palestine – through training, organization of meetings, campaigns and on-line exchange.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The students emerged from the training eager to act. The major criticism of the project from participants was that they were not given enough concrete guidance on what form this action might take or how they should go about organizing. The training focused on improving understanding of theoretical concepts – tolerance, human rights, discrimination – and did not cover practical skills such as project design and management, fundraising and reporting, and evaluation and monitoring, which would have better equipped students to put their newly established knowledge into practice in their communities in Palestine.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

It was clear that the political situation in the Palestinian Territories and in particular the imposition of movement restrictions, the impasse in peace negotiations and the continued frustration of the Palestinians, limited the impact of the projects at a wider societal level. This limitation was of course beyond the control of the grantee.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

The students themselves are active as a Facebook group. This, however, is the only real link between the West Bank and Gaza participants, and the evaluators noted that maintaining links between the two areas of Palestine is a continuing challenge.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic dialogue in Palestine: Acculturation towards tolerance

Although there was media coverage of the project and some of its events, it was left up to individual journalists based on their own interest to cover the issues involved. The grantee might have considered using short-term media expertise, as necessary, to develop a comprehensive media and communications strategy improving outreach of future projects in Palestine.
Project Partner
The Ramallah Centre for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The project aimed to build the capacity of young people in Palestine – primarily students at university in the West Bank and Gaza Strip – to contribute to understanding of tolerance and difference, with a view to bridging socio-political gaps within Palestinian communities, and between the public and the three main authorities in Palestine - the legislative, judiciary and unions. The project design was underpinned by the growing problem of division among young people in Palestinian society. Project stakeholders also repeatedly mentioned the broader political reality of life in the Palestine territories that impose restrictions that undermine the human rights for young Palestinians and influence their perception of human rights and justice.
Evaluation Date
February 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Citizen’s Participation in the Constitutional Reform Process in Ghana

Constitutional review processes are frequently subject to unexpected changes in the government’s schedule of priorities or politically motivated delays. These are recurring challenges that many UNDEF-funded projects have faced. This project in Ghana took a very cautious approach and identified external risks and therefore formulated more modest expected outputs and results.
Project Partner
Institute of Economic Affairs
Project Description
The project facilitated the participation of marginalized and vulnerable groups of citizens in the constitutional reform process in Ghana. This process was initiated by the Ghanaian government when it established a Constitution Review Commission (CRC). The project aimed to consult the country’s marginalized populations on key constitutional issues and considered their recommendations in conjunction with the results of field surveys and thematic research papers. The project organized workshops with participants. On average 21 new relevant recommendations were made by each participant. This improved the quality of submissions - compared to the officially conducted CRC consultations – and prompted various Members of Parliament (MPs) to declare their support. Over 80% of the Constitution Review Commissions’ recommendations were informed by the project’s input, which demonstrates the impact the project had.
Evaluation Date
January 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Citizen’s Participation in the Constitutional Reform Process in Ghana

The grantee failed to communicate sufficiently about the need to slow down implementation and to extend the project’s duration, in order to await the publication of the Constitutional Review Commission’s recommendations and the response from the Government in its White Paper.
Project Partner
Institute of Economic Affairs
Project Description
The project facilitated the participation of marginalized and vulnerable groups of citizens in the constitutional reform process in Ghana. This process was initiated by the Ghanaian government when it established a Constitution Review Commission (CRC). The project aimed to consult the country’s marginalized populations on key constitutional issues and considered their recommendations in conjunction with the results of field surveys and thematic research papers. The project organized workshops with participants. On average 21 new relevant recommendations were made by each participant. This improved the quality of submissions - compared to the officially conducted CRC consultations – and prompted various Members of Parliament (MPs) to declare their support. Over 80% of the Constitution Review Commissions’ recommendations were informed by the project’s input, which demonstrates the impact the project had.
Evaluation Date
January 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Citizen’s Participation in the Constitutional Reform Process in Ghana

The grantee failed to anticipate that, once the grassroots-level had submitted its recommendations, the consulted representatives from women, youth and disability groups, would expect get feedback on how their inputs were being used in the constitutional reform process in Ghana.
Project Partner
Institute of Economic Affairs
Project Description
The project facilitated the participation of marginalized and vulnerable groups of citizens in the constitutional reform process in Ghana. This process was initiated by the Ghanaian government when it established a Constitution Review Commission (CRC). The project aimed to consult the country’s marginalized populations on key constitutional issues and considered their recommendations in conjunction with the results of field surveys and thematic research papers. The project organized workshops with participants. On average 21 new relevant recommendations were made by each participant. This improved the quality of submissions - compared to the officially conducted CRC consultations – and prompted various Members of Parliament (MPs) to declare their support. Over 80% of the Constitution Review Commissions’ recommendations were informed by the project’s input, which demonstrates the impact the project had.
Evaluation Date
January 2013
Theme
Country