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Community activism

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The project continued many of the elements of an earlier UNDEF-funded project implemented by another CSO consortium. It took over its Advisory Group of about 20 CSOs that met to discuss legislative issues targeting the Assembly of Kosovo, and expanded that group to include a wider range of CSOs and issues related to government consultations and policy making.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The approach of addressing demand and supply for CSO input was efficient as well as effective as it built government support for and use of CSO input at the same time as working to ensure that the CSOs would be able to respond constructively to those openings. The choice of governmental partners was also effective, as these offices were directly responsible for setting the standards for consultations and ensuring compliance with them in all government and municipal drafting in Kosovo.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

As the project worked to change the structure of consultations rather than working on a specific law or case, it should have a wide impact. The institutionalization of government reforms made consultations less dependent on the individual good will of a public official. Further consolidation of these reforms was expected with the anticipated adoption of the Governmental Strategy for Cooperation with Civil Society. Much of that strategy is reportedly based on the contents of the manual that the project helped develop.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The project was implemented at the right time when the government of Kosovo was in the process of updating and consolidating its national framework for democratic governance. The grantee seized this opportunity and the partnership it developed with the key officials who were driving this process and with the group of CSOs in the Advisory Group gave the reform effort structure and momentum through its regular meetings, topical workshops, training and information sharing.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Civil Society Inclusion on Democratic Policy-Making in Kosovo

The grantee could have been more rigorous in its development of a monitoring and evaluation plan so as to track the status of public consultations, the progress made towards implementing the new rules of procedure, and to assure that corrective measures are taken to address any problems encountered.
Project Partner
Kosovo Civil Society Foundation
Project Description
The project sought to strengthen the capacities of civil society to play an active role in shaping public policy and drafting laws. Its intended outcome was for civil society to become an active, informed and key partner in public policy and law making, so as to be able to react instantly on key public policy areas. The grantee capitalized on the government’s willingness for a more engaged and constructive civil society in policy development as well as the need for civil society organizations to have more information.  There was a substantial level of interest and participation in the project from both sides. The project’s strategy was sound as it built on the work already done by both CSOs and government offices. The project increased both the demand for and supply of public consultations.  
Evaluation Date
October 2012
Country
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)

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