Community activism

The main focus of the project in Côte d’Ivoire was to put in place five departmental committees and one national committee for the monitoring of democracy and good governance. By strengthening the capacity of the members of these committees, the project promoted voluntary involvement in the management of communes and the exercise of civic control. By relying on the country’s policy of decentralization, the project helped local populations develop an interest in governing local affairs through learning about their roles as citizens. This was done through cooperation and engaging in dialogue with locally elected leaders. With this project the grantee integrated strategic priorities of the national decentralization policy into local governance. It also managed to take into account the context of the Ivorian crisis, which was characterized by a weakness of democracy and poor governance. It was therefore a kind of post-crisis pilot project on raising awareness and approaches to training in democratic education and good governance. The project could have applied a more nuanced approach in relation to the different groups that were part of the target population, particularly women and young people and provided more local support.

The main focus of the project in Côte d’Ivoire was to put in place five departmental committees and one national committee for the monitoring of democracy and good governance. By strengthening the capacity of the members of these committees, the project promoted voluntary involvement in the management of communes and the exercise of civic control. By relying on the country’s policy of decentralization, the project helped local populations develop an interest in governing local affairs through learning about their roles as citizens. This was done through cooperation and engaging in dialogue with locally elected leaders. With this project the grantee integrated strategic priorities of the national decentralization policy into local governance. It also managed to take into account the context of the Ivorian crisis, which was characterized by a weakness of democracy and poor governance. It was therefore a kind of post-crisis pilot project on raising awareness and approaches to training in democratic education and good governance. The project could have applied a more nuanced approach in relation to the different groups that were part of the target population, particularly women and young people and provided more local support.

The main focus of the project in Côte d’Ivoire was to put in place five departmental committees and one national committee for the monitoring of democracy and good governance. By strengthening the capacity of the members of these committees, the project promoted voluntary involvement in the management of communes and the exercise of civic control. By relying on the country’s policy of decentralization, the project helped local populations develop an interest in governing local affairs through learning about their roles as citizens. This was done through cooperation and engaging in dialogue with locally elected leaders. With this project the grantee integrated strategic priorities of the national decentralization policy into local governance. It also managed to take into account the context of the Ivorian crisis, which was characterized by a weakness of democracy and poor governance. It was therefore a kind of post-crisis pilot project on raising awareness and approaches to training in democratic education and good governance. The project could have applied a more nuanced approach in relation to the different groups that were part of the target population, particularly women and young people and provided more local support.

The main focus of the project in Côte d’Ivoire was to put in place five departmental committees and one national committee for the monitoring of democracy and good governance. By strengthening the capacity of the members of these committees, the project promoted voluntary involvement in the management of communes and the exercise of civic control. By relying on the country’s policy of decentralization, the project helped local populations develop an interest in governing local affairs through learning about their roles as citizens. This was done through cooperation and engaging in dialogue with locally elected leaders. With this project the grantee integrated strategic priorities of the national decentralization policy into local governance. It also managed to take into account the context of the Ivorian crisis, which was characterized by a weakness of democracy and poor governance. It was therefore a kind of post-crisis pilot project on raising awareness and approaches to training in democratic education and good governance. The project could have applied a more nuanced approach in relation to the different groups that were part of the target population, particularly women and young people and provided more local support.

The main focus of the project in Côte d’Ivoire was to put in place five departmental committees and one national committee for the monitoring of democracy and good governance. By strengthening the capacity of the members of these committees, the project promoted voluntary involvement in the management of communes and the exercise of civic control. By relying on the country’s policy of decentralization, the project helped local populations develop an interest in governing local affairs through learning about their roles as citizens. This was done through cooperation and engaging in dialogue with locally elected leaders. With this project the grantee integrated strategic priorities of the national decentralization policy into local governance. It also managed to take into account the context of the Ivorian crisis, which was characterized by a weakness of democracy and poor governance. It was therefore a kind of post-crisis pilot project on raising awareness and approaches to training in democratic education and good governance. The project could have applied a more nuanced approach in relation to the different groups that were part of the target population, particularly women and young people and provided more local support.

The project was built on the grantee's experience of the most urgent problems of local communities in the Niger Delta, and particularly of women, youth and other vulnerable groups. It aimed to engage with three sets of stakeholders: CSOs at local level in the nine Niger Delta states; representatives of marginalized groups (women, youth and the disabled); and officials from three branches of government. The project’s focus on working with the CSOs and beneficiary groups in strengthening the basis for broader-based citizen participation in the political process was highly relevant to addressing the democratic deficit in a region where there is widespread distrust of the governing authorities and the absence of a belief that the voices of the people will make a difference in decision-making. Despite some limitations overall, the project proved to be effective in building the capacities of its target groups, in enhancing their self-confidence, and in motivating many to take further action. Follow-up activities undertaken by participants included “stepping down” the training to others in their local networks, and organizing advocacy and public awareness initiatives. The project succeeded in contributing to increasing the levels of participation in the public realm by both CSOs and beneficiary groups.

The project general objective was to support the development of good governance in Myanmar through civic education and building advocacy skills of civil society. Activities included civic education trainings and township level meetings to support good governance; organization of core leader meetings; training in how to write policy papers to strengthen policy advocacy; and the creation of a website for civil society to exchange experience and knowledge. All quantifiable targets were reached or surpassed, and the participants interviewed spoke highly of the training. The project implementation team overcame significant bureaucratic and logistical obstacles, as well as difficult operating conditions. The project appears to have had a great deal of positive 'knock-on effects’. Although the training program attracted a large number of participants, participation was dictated by informal networks and affinities. The township-level forum did not succeed in soliciting initiatives and brainstorming on regional/local issues. Likewise, the policy papers exhibited significant weaknesses in particular a lack of readers. The website was also not used as an effective tool for knowledge and information sharing by any of the participants interviewed.

The project general objective was to support the development of good governance in Myanmar through civic education and building advocacy skills of civil society. Activities included civic education trainings and township level meetings to support good governance; organization of core leader meetings; training in how to write policy papers to strengthen policy advocacy; and the creation of a website for civil society to exchange experience and knowledge. All quantifiable targets were reached or surpassed, and the participants interviewed spoke highly of the training. The project implementation team overcame significant bureaucratic and logistical obstacles, as well as difficult operating conditions. The project appears to have had a great deal of positive 'knock-on effects’. Although the training program attracted a large number of participants, participation was dictated by informal networks and affinities. The township-level forum did not succeed in soliciting initiatives and brainstorming on regional/local issues. Likewise, the policy papers exhibited significant weaknesses in particular a lack of readers. The website was also not used as an effective tool for knowledge and information sharing by any of the participants interviewed.

The project aimed to increase the political participation of indigenous (tribal) communities and community based organizations (CBOs) in the Rangamati Hill District of Bangladesh leading to an increase in their demand for more responsive public services and policies. The project set out to do this by increasing the dialogue between formal and traditional forms of local governance. Specifically, the project’s objectives were: enhance the capacities of local government leaders, CBOs and tribal community leaders; enable better coordination between stakeholders; and, promote democratic processes to ensure pro-poor service delivery and resource allocation. Its intended outcomes were: empowered CBOs and alternative community leaders; improved participation by traditional community leaders in the formal governance system; increased women’s participation; more pro-poor gender-sensitive local services; greater trust between the different stakeholders - indigenous inhabitants, Bengalis, CBOs and local government - and regular media reporting on governance issues in the Rangamati Hill District. The project did seem to help resolve small but important issues for the communities, and helped to increase the visibility of the open budget system by promoting its use by its committees. It also seems to have increased the general level of awareness of project participants on governance issues.

The project general objective was to support the development of good governance in Myanmar through civic education and building advocacy skills of civil society. Activities included civic education trainings and township level meetings to support good governance; organization of core leader meetings; training in how to write policy papers to strengthen policy advocacy; and the creation of a website for civil society to exchange experience and knowledge. All quantifiable targets were reached or surpassed, and the participants interviewed spoke highly of the training. The project implementation team overcame significant bureaucratic and logistical obstacles, as well as difficult operating conditions. The project appears to have had a great deal of positive 'knock-on effects’. Although the training program attracted a large number of participants, participation was dictated by informal networks and affinities. The township-level forum did not succeed in soliciting initiatives and brainstorming on regional/local issues. Likewise, the policy papers exhibited significant weaknesses in particular a lack of readers. The website was also not used as an effective tool for knowledge and information sharing by any of the participants interviewed.