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Lessons

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democracy Through LGBT Political Participation in South Africa

Efficient communication between project and finance management staff, and between grantees and implementing partners, is key to ensuring the delivery of projects in challenging conditions, such as during a global pandemic or when significant staff changes take place, especially when adaptive programming is required.
Project Partner
Triangle Project
Project Description
The project aims to strengthen South Africa's democracy through increasing equal participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and promoting understanding among political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission around the importance of diverse representation. This will be achieved through the training of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex leaders in civic engagement strategy and working with parties and the Commission to adopt policies and procedures to improve their representation, participation, voter registration and turn out.
Evaluation Date
August 2023
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democracy Through LGBT Political Participation in South Africa

Engagement with, and mapping of, prospective national institutional stakeholders in advance of a project taking place is critical to ensuring that the activities proposed align with their interests and priorities and are feasible in the timeframes proposed.
Project Partner
Triangle Project
Project Description
The project aims to strengthen South Africa's democracy through increasing equal participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and promoting understanding among political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission around the importance of diverse representation. This will be achieved through the training of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex leaders in civic engagement strategy and working with parties and the Commission to adopt policies and procedures to improve their representation, participation, voter registration and turn out.
Evaluation Date
August 2023
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democracy Through LGBT Political Participation in South Africa

Access to online training and engagement activities are limited by financial and logistical obstacles, a challenge sharply accentuated for marginalized groups in rural communities. Such activities should remain in-person where possible, and in scenarios where this is not an option, resources should be set aside to encourage grassroots participation.
Project Partner
Triangle Project
Project Description
The project aims to strengthen South Africa's democracy through increasing equal participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and promoting understanding among political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission around the importance of diverse representation. This will be achieved through the training of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex leaders in civic engagement strategy and working with parties and the Commission to adopt policies and procedures to improve their representation, participation, voter registration and turn out.
Evaluation Date
August 2023
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democracy Through LGBT Political Participation in South Africa

Financial obstacles remain a significant barrier to building community networks and grassroots movements on LGBTQI+ rights issues in challenging economic contexts. Support to empower grassroots mobilisation of resources should be part of efforts to mitigate this challenge which risks impacting on an intervention’s sustainability.
Project Partner
Triangle Project
Project Description
The project aims to strengthen South Africa's democracy through increasing equal participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and promoting understanding among political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission around the importance of diverse representation. This will be achieved through the training of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex leaders in civic engagement strategy and working with parties and the Commission to adopt policies and procedures to improve their representation, participation, voter registration and turn out.
Evaluation Date
August 2023
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

Communication strategies should reflect the local context and most importantly be tailored towards the target audience. It is therefore important to identify the communication tools with the greatest local resonance and translate all material into local languages.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

WhatsApp can be a key project management tool that delivers support to both cost-effective monitoring of implementation and the building of networks and structures. But this is most effective when combined with occasional in-person meetings or visits, to ensure personal relationships are built offline, before they are maintained, sustained, and developed online.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

It is incorrect to just assume that what people learn from training will then be applied in practice. There is another step in supporting them to feel confident to start believing and acting on what they now know and this needs to be better captured in project designs, such as through sub-granted small projects, to ensure that outputs contribute to the achievement of outcomes.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

The volume of activities proposed by a project does not always equate to a greater impact. Sometimes giving more focus, either in terms of geographic spread or to the activities being undertaken, can generate more sustained and involved engagement and more substantive change.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

Empowering women when it comes to realizing their rights, not just learning about them, requires the support of men – both in their family and in the community at-large – and they should be brought on board to champion wider societal transformation around gender.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

Associations supported by paying members, more so than local NGOs, can benefit from projects that expand their areas of operations by adding members and thus improving their financial sustainability.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country