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Women's empowerment

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Improving the Participation of 155 Women's Groups

The grantee included traditional leaders as well as the officials from the commune and the prefecture. These authority figures became involved in supporting the participation of women and in constructing a framework to ensure visibility of women’s issues and awareness that women’s rights should be supported.
Project Partner
L’Organisation Nationale pour la Femme, l’Enfant et la Famille
Project Description
The project’s objective was to increase the number of rural women in Côte d’Ivoire participating in the democratic process, specifically in decision-making. In order to do this, the project set out to raise awareness among rural women of their political and civil rights; and increase the number of informed rural women able to participate in electoral processes either as candidates or as voters. The activities were designed to take into account the post-election crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, taking into account that women make up the largest proportion of the voting population. The decision to intervene in the western part of the country, which was particularly affected by the war and where women became victims of sexual and gender based violence allowed a more targeted response to the specific needs of the beneficiary populations.
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Improving the Participation of 155 Women's Groups

The strategic approach of the project could have been stronger if the awareness-raising initiatives organized had also included men so as to complement those carried out with women. The project could have also distinguished between different age groups, focusing on young people, who are probably more open to adopting new ideas.
Project Partner
L’Organisation Nationale pour la Femme, l’Enfant et la Famille
Project Description
The project’s objective was to increase the number of rural women in Côte d’Ivoire participating in the democratic process, specifically in decision-making. In order to do this, the project set out to raise awareness among rural women of their political and civil rights; and increase the number of informed rural women able to participate in electoral processes either as candidates or as voters. The activities were designed to take into account the post-election crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, taking into account that women make up the largest proportion of the voting population. The decision to intervene in the western part of the country, which was particularly affected by the war and where women became victims of sexual and gender based violence allowed a more targeted response to the specific needs of the beneficiary populations.
Evaluation Date
October 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

The project was implemented at an opportune time (2011-2012), coinciding with the run-up to the 2012 elections. It also aligned with the drafting of the National Gender Equality Policy (2013) as part of the Angolan Government priority action for equal participation for men and women. The project objective thus responded to the unmet needs and challenges of the Angolan context, especially in the provinces and at the local level.
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

The training, public awareness activities and radio broadcasts were important to political party women’s organizations, CSOs, and journalists in Angola. These outputs significantly impacted on women as individuals. They gained a greater understanding of the importance of participating in political parties, and many of them registered to vote in time for the 2012 elections.

 

UNDEF/Angloa
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

The project also collaborated closely with the Ministry of the Family and Women’s Promotion  and the Women Parliamentarian’s Group10  in Angola. The purpose of this group, created in 1995, is to integrate the gender perspective into legislation, promote the exercise of women’s rights, and fight all forms of exclusion. Strategically, the selection of the project’s partner organizations was wise, especially in view of their potential impact and multiplier effect, since all of them were involved in the training activities.
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

The project had a positive impact on the grantee itself. The workshops and seminars that were held strengthened the NGO as a forum for interaction among organizations committed to promoting gender equality. The project also improved its opportunities for dialogue with state agencies; it also enabled it to obtain an audience with the President of the National Assembly to, among other things, make its request for recognition as a public interest organization. Securing this recognition would substantially improve its situation and bolster its institutional capacity.
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

The grantee needed to develop impact monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. The absence of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms (record of activities, risk analysis, monitoring in the provinces, outcome and impact assessment) affected the quality of the project’s outcomes and the extent to which they were achieved. No strategy to capitalize on the impact achieved had been executed. Opinions about the project’s results are very general. The members of the technical team and the beneficiaries interviewed all had difficulty recalling the activities in which they had participated in any detail.
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

The grantee could have strengthened partnerships with state institutions during the drafting of the National Gender Equality Policy execution phase.  In the future the grantee should conduct a thorough review of the demand and strengths of the CSOs that share objectives and human resources. This could open up new opportunities for participation formalized in a consensus-based agenda and action plan.
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola

Training and radio programmes developed in Angola were the most effective project components, unquestionably raising awareness about the issues discussed. What remains unclear is their subsequent usefulness and the degree of ownership they inspired in the women involved. Also unclear is the extent to which the project tangibly contributed to greater equality between men and women political office-holding and, above all, to an improvement in the “quality” of their participation. There is no registry or procedure for evaluating or monitoring specific outcomes, which undoubtedly undermined project efficiency.
Project Partner
Rede Mulher Angola
Project Description
Increasing Women’s Participation in Politics and Decision Making in Angola targeted the women’s organizations of Angola’s political parties and other platforms that work to promote the political empowerment of women. Participants found the issues addressed by the project interesting and appreciated the participatory methodology, which encouraged interaction among people who in many cases were from different political parties, enabling them to get to know one another. However, the decline of the grantee’s institutional capacity substantially lessened the project’s potential impact.
Evaluation Date
March 2013
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enhancing Women’s participation in Democracy in The Gambia

The project’s manual was praised both by trainers and trainees for being a comprehensive introduction to the principles of democratic governance. The materials and outputs of the project including a documentary video could be used to reach a wider group of women via the grantee’s website.
Project Partner
West African Network for Peacebuilding, The Gambia
Project Description
The project aimed to promote the involvement and participation of women in electoral processes and democratic governance. Following the decision of all but one of the opposition parties not to participate in the National Assembly elections, the grantee expanded the project to the local government elections. Project activities included focus groups about women’s rights to encourage active representation of women in the community decision-making processes. Open forums and regional radio programmes generated knowledge and vibrant discussion among the wider public. A capacity building scheme combined training, mentorship, and experience sharing. The project effectively questioned entrenched cultural norms and pervasive religious beliefs. However, in spite of the project’s advocacy activities and the provision of training and mentoring number female candidates in the local government elections was lower than during the previous 2006-2008 cycle.
Evaluation Date
January 2013
Country