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Lessons

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Lao Encouraging and Applying Democracy for Civil Society (LEAD)

The skills gained through the training positively affected the participants’ day-to-day work, including their business development efforts and their attempts to enhance their communication with potential donors. Some CSOs in Laos reported they obtained an international funding as a direct impact of the grantee’s training programme.
Project Partner
Kenan Institute Asia
Project Description
The grantee hoped to empower Civil Society Organizations and community leaders in Lao PDR and, to give them the skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the country’s development. The project involved training various levels of staff in Lao non-profit associations to ensure that they would be able to share the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to transform their organizations into professionally run civil society organizations. The long term goal of these interventions was to build the capacity of the non-profit associations so that were managed in a more business-oriented manner. The participants in the project were satisfied by the organization of project events. Many of them had never been involved in training that combined lectures with practical, hands-on activities.
Evaluation Date
September 2012
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Lao Encouraging and Applying Democracy for Civil Society (LEAD)

Low quality outputs and results were attributable to the absence of a locally based project manager in Laos. The lack of a local project management capacity put the project’s sustainability at risk.
Project Partner
Kenan Institute Asia
Project Description
The grantee hoped to empower Civil Society Organizations and community leaders in Lao PDR and, to give them the skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the country’s development. The project involved training various levels of staff in Lao non-profit associations to ensure that they would be able to share the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to transform their organizations into professionally run civil society organizations. The long term goal of these interventions was to build the capacity of the non-profit associations so that were managed in a more business-oriented manner. The participants in the project were satisfied by the organization of project events. Many of them had never been involved in training that combined lectures with practical, hands-on activities.
Evaluation Date
September 2012
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Lao Encouraging and Applying Democracy for Civil Society (LEAD)

Direct and indirect beneficiaries expressed their need to have continued access to reference materials and that not all of these have been made available in Lao language. Reference materials used in trainings and workshops should have been consistently available in local language and the grantee could have uploaded all the training materials onto the project website so that they could be used more widely.
Project Partner
Kenan Institute Asia
Project Description
The grantee hoped to empower Civil Society Organizations and community leaders in Lao PDR and, to give them the skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the country’s development. The project involved training various levels of staff in Lao non-profit associations to ensure that they would be able to share the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to transform their organizations into professionally run civil society organizations. The long term goal of these interventions was to build the capacity of the non-profit associations so that were managed in a more business-oriented manner. The participants in the project were satisfied by the organization of project events. Many of them had never been involved in training that combined lectures with practical, hands-on activities.
Evaluation Date
September 2012
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Lao Encouraging and Applying Democracy for Civil Society (LEAD)

A closer look at the way micro-grants were managed revealed an absence of proper guidance for end-beneficiaries in Laos on how to appropriately spend granted funding and to transparently report expenditure applying related rules/procedures.
Project Partner
Kenan Institute Asia
Project Description
The grantee hoped to empower Civil Society Organizations and community leaders in Lao PDR and, to give them the skills and knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the country’s development. The project involved training various levels of staff in Lao non-profit associations to ensure that they would be able to share the technical knowledge and practical skills needed to transform their organizations into professionally run civil society organizations. The long term goal of these interventions was to build the capacity of the non-profit associations so that were managed in a more business-oriented manner. The participants in the project were satisfied by the organization of project events. Many of them had never been involved in training that combined lectures with practical, hands-on activities.
Evaluation Date
September 2012
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

There is no doubt that organized contributions from coalitions of CSOs and NGOS to UN processes carry more weight than individual participation. In the case of CSOs from the LDCs, the cost of attending UN conferences or even the preparatory regional meetings is likely to exclude most organizations from attending, so some mechanism for capturing their views and representing them in the meetings is essential.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

The reality is that CSOs/NGOs have more influence on policy and practice at national level, and that their major contribution to international and UN processes most often comes when their advocacy has been effective on their national government whose delegation will then carry this into governmental debate and processes such as outcome documents.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

The impact of the project activities on the LDC-IV outcome document is questionable. Few respondents considered that CSO efforts had translated into impact on the outcome of LDC-IV (the IP0A), which is essentially a political outcome decided by governments.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

Over-reliance on one person’s credibility and profile is a risk. Succession planning, especially in between major events - like the international conferences on Least Developed Countries -  should be a priority.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

The value of the grantee as a coordinating body is not in dispute, however its members do not pay fees and it has no way to raise funds other than through projects submitted to donors.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratizing governance for development: LDC civil society engagement

The evaluators believed that the grantee cannot simply continue advocacy actions but must put in place a strategy and work plan that reflect the needs of its members and that might include actions – like training and information processes – that donors would consider funding.
Project Partner
LDC Watch
Project Description
The project was timed to coincide with UN processes related to follow-up of the outcome document of the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-III) in Brussels in 2001, known as the Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) and preparations for the Fourth UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV) held in Istanbul in May 2011. The project aimed to build the capacity of civil society organizations in Least Developed Countries to mobilize and consolidate their energy, expertise and commitment to achieving quality inputs to the Comprehensive Review Summit in 2010, and strengthening democratic decision making in international development processes. It had three intended outcomes: Enhanced capacity of CSOs and CBOs; Increased awareness and coverage of LDC issues; Progress and setbacks on MDGs and BPoA reviewed. The project aimed to undertake activities in 20 countries: 13 in Africa, 2 in South Asia, 2 in South-East Asia and 3 in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). However planned activities changed throughout the project.
Evaluation Date
August 2012
Country