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PROJECT

Strengthening Civil Society Across Borders to Develop Democracy

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Civil Society Across Borders to Develop Democracy

The project was built on the premise that when civil society and government engage constructively and pro-actively, common ground will be found and better approaches and solutions developed. Results of the project confirmed that approach.
The watchdog role of NGOs is important and should complement rather than contradict an approach based on constructive engagement. The enhanced involvement of civil society in national policymaking in both Ukraine and Moldova was in part a result of the contribution of this project.
Project Partner
Euclid Network
Project Description
The project’s goal was to increase the capacity of NGOs in Moldova and Ukraine to network among themselves to enhance their advocacy skills and to improve the functioning of existing mechanisms for engagement between civil society and governments. The project resulted in a range of concrete initiatives, both at the local level and at the level of improved NGO representation in national policy making. Concrete impacts ranged from promoting the participation of blind voters to making amendments to the new law on associations in Ukraine and the human rights action plan in Moldova.
Evaluation Date
August 2011
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Civil Society Across Borders to Develop Democracy

The strong partnership between a reliable, experienced international NGO and national NGOs from Ukraine and Moldova worked well to leverage results and to enhance the impact of activities. The value added of this civil society project was that these collaborations were focused on concrete solutions to jointly identified problems.
Project Partner
Euclid Network
Project Description
The project’s goal was to increase the capacity of NGOs in Moldova and Ukraine to network among themselves to enhance their advocacy skills and to improve the functioning of existing mechanisms for engagement between civil society and governments. The project resulted in a range of concrete initiatives, both at the local level and at the level of improved NGO representation in national policy making. Concrete impacts ranged from promoting the participation of blind voters to making amendments to the new law on associations in Ukraine and the human rights action plan in Moldova.
Evaluation Date
August 2011
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Civil Society Across Borders to Develop Democracy

The sustainability of the local NGOs was not assured. It is recommended that the local NGOs which participated in the project develop long-term relationships with local authorities; for example, permanent consultative status in an issue area or a multi-year arrangement to provide services. This will enhance financial sustainability in the most convincing way and help to avoid the trap of being dependent on recurrent one-time projects.
Project Partner
Euclid Network
Project Description
The project’s goal was to increase the capacity of NGOs in Moldova and Ukraine to network among themselves to enhance their advocacy skills and to improve the functioning of existing mechanisms for engagement between civil society and governments. The project resulted in a range of concrete initiatives, both at the local level and at the level of improved NGO representation in national policy making. Concrete impacts ranged from promoting the participation of blind voters to making amendments to the new law on associations in Ukraine and the human rights action plan in Moldova.
Evaluation Date
August 2011
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Civil Society Across Borders to Develop Democracy

The extent to which cross-border ties between Ukraine and Moldova were maintained could have been enhanced by a better sustainability strategy to build the knowledge and experience sharing that took place as part of the project. The sustainability relies on the website. However the website of the project could have been better designed to become a forum for keeping in touch and fostering twinning arrangements.
Project Partner
Euclid Network
Project Description
The project’s goal was to increase the capacity of NGOs in Moldova and Ukraine to network among themselves to enhance their advocacy skills and to improve the functioning of existing mechanisms for engagement between civil society and governments. The project resulted in a range of concrete initiatives, both at the local level and at the level of improved NGO representation in national policy making. Concrete impacts ranged from promoting the participation of blind voters to making amendments to the new law on associations in Ukraine and the human rights action plan in Moldova.
Evaluation Date
August 2011
Country