PROJECT
Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
LESSON
Lesson Learned: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
The project was relevant in terms of its identification of the democratic problem. All people interviewed as part of the evaluation viewed the consolidation of power by one individual or party as the main issue facing the communities. Projects of this nature shine a light on governance and the need to pay attention to what elected officials are doing. The project provided a public space that highlighted the work of deputies. This was effective for journalists and some of the minority party deputies. For the journalists, the websites developed by the project provided a one-stop shop for information about local representatives’ work, while the minority deputies found the websites could be used as a channel to make their work public.
Project Partner
East Europe Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to enhance the capacities of Ukrainian NGOs and citizens to influence political processes by providing citizens with tools to monitor and evaluate the work of their elected officials and to advocate for needed change. Its intended outcomes were to: increase NGO activism in engaging citizens to undertake citizen monitoring and advocacy activities; increase access to information for citizens about their local representatives and electoral officials; and increase civil society demand for more accountability from their local representatives and elected officials in eight targeted regions. The main tool used by the project to achieve these outcomes was a dedicated website. However this was under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic .The impact of this project is difficult to assess as it did not collect outcome information.. The limited use of the site and its lack of links to activities in the sector reduced its potential for impact but from the anecdotal information gathered, it seems that on a limited scale, this project resulted in an increased awareness among some deputies that their activities were being watched and that information on their work could get out to the public through NGOs and websites such as these.
Report
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON
Lesson Learned: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
The grantee made some efforts to build sustainability into the project by expecting sub grantees to place advertising on the sites to generate income, and by developing a formal, as well as informal network between the nine NGOs. While advertising on the sites was not put in place the formal and informal networks were established.
Project Partner
East Europe Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to enhance the capacities of Ukrainian NGOs and citizens to influence political processes by providing citizens with tools to monitor and evaluate the work of their elected officials and to advocate for needed change. Its intended outcomes were to: increase NGO activism in engaging citizens to undertake citizen monitoring and advocacy activities; increase access to information for citizens about their local representatives and electoral officials; and increase civil society demand for more accountability from their local representatives and elected officials in eight targeted regions. The main tool used by the project to achieve these outcomes was a dedicated website. However this was under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic .The impact of this project is difficult to assess as it did not collect outcome information.. The limited use of the site and its lack of links to activities in the sector reduced its potential for impact but from the anecdotal information gathered, it seems that on a limited scale, this project resulted in an increased awareness among some deputies that their activities were being watched and that information on their work could get out to the public through NGOs and websites such as these.
Report
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON
Lesson Learned: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
The project’s technique of putting in place governance transparency activities at local level in different regions could be replicated in future as the focus on local issues and representatives, should be leveraged to achieve a national impact. Outcome indicators should also be adopted in projects such as these so the information can be used to better target project activities and improve project performance.
Project Partner
East Europe Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to enhance the capacities of Ukrainian NGOs and citizens to influence political processes by providing citizens with tools to monitor and evaluate the work of their elected officials and to advocate for needed change. Its intended outcomes were to: increase NGO activism in engaging citizens to undertake citizen monitoring and advocacy activities; increase access to information for citizens about their local representatives and electoral officials; and increase civil society demand for more accountability from their local representatives and elected officials in eight targeted regions. The main tool used by the project to achieve these outcomes was a dedicated website. However this was under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic .The impact of this project is difficult to assess as it did not collect outcome information.. The limited use of the site and its lack of links to activities in the sector reduced its potential for impact but from the anecdotal information gathered, it seems that on a limited scale, this project resulted in an increased awareness among some deputies that their activities were being watched and that information on their work could get out to the public through NGOs and websites such as these.
Report
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON
Lesson Learned: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
The activities for outreach to the citizens and their use of the websites were under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic given the number of other factors that go into these elements.
Project Partner
East Europe Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to enhance the capacities of Ukrainian NGOs and citizens to influence political processes by providing citizens with tools to monitor and evaluate the work of their elected officials and to advocate for needed change. Its intended outcomes were to: increase NGO activism in engaging citizens to undertake citizen monitoring and advocacy activities; increase access to information for citizens about their local representatives and electoral officials; and increase civil society demand for more accountability from their local representatives and elected officials in eight targeted regions. The main tool used by the project to achieve these outcomes was a dedicated website. However this was under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic .The impact of this project is difficult to assess as it did not collect outcome information.. The limited use of the site and its lack of links to activities in the sector reduced its potential for impact but from the anecdotal information gathered, it seems that on a limited scale, this project resulted in an increased awareness among some deputies that their activities were being watched and that information on their work could get out to the public through NGOs and websites such as these.
Report
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON
Lesson Learned: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
Project implementation followed the outputs listed in the project document but the aspects related to citizen participation and the lobbying of parties were missing. These activities had not been included in the request for proposals (RFPs) issued by the grantee. Conceptually, the project seemed to think these elements would emanate from website use but without a critical mass of users, this did not occur.
Project Partner
East Europe Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to enhance the capacities of Ukrainian NGOs and citizens to influence political processes by providing citizens with tools to monitor and evaluate the work of their elected officials and to advocate for needed change. Its intended outcomes were to: increase NGO activism in engaging citizens to undertake citizen monitoring and advocacy activities; increase access to information for citizens about their local representatives and electoral officials; and increase civil society demand for more accountability from their local representatives and elected officials in eight targeted regions. The main tool used by the project to achieve these outcomes was a dedicated website. However this was under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic .The impact of this project is difficult to assess as it did not collect outcome information.. The limited use of the site and its lack of links to activities in the sector reduced its potential for impact but from the anecdotal information gathered, it seems that on a limited scale, this project resulted in an increased awareness among some deputies that their activities were being watched and that information on their work could get out to the public through NGOs and websites such as these.
Report
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON
Lesson Learned: Your Local Representative, Strengthening Citizen Participation in Ukraine
The grantee had the capacity and expertise required to manage a sensitive sub-grant project such as this nationwide, but it needed an institutional partner to provide the programmatic vision and links for the more effective use of the information about local government and decision making that the project collected.
Project Partner
East Europe Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to enhance the capacities of Ukrainian NGOs and citizens to influence political processes by providing citizens with tools to monitor and evaluate the work of their elected officials and to advocate for needed change. Its intended outcomes were to: increase NGO activism in engaging citizens to undertake citizen monitoring and advocacy activities; increase access to information for citizens about their local representatives and electoral officials; and increase civil society demand for more accountability from their local representatives and elected officials in eight targeted regions. The main tool used by the project to achieve these outcomes was a dedicated website. However this was under-developed in the design and during implementation. The assumption that these websites alone could result in more responsive party lists or more accountable deputies was unrealistic .The impact of this project is difficult to assess as it did not collect outcome information.. The limited use of the site and its lack of links to activities in the sector reduced its potential for impact but from the anecdotal information gathered, it seems that on a limited scale, this project resulted in an increased awareness among some deputies that their activities were being watched and that information on their work could get out to the public through NGOs and websites such as these.
Report
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Theme
Country