capacity

The project's objective was to strengthen institutional capacity of three independent CSOs working with rural women’s groups so that they could establish associations of self-help groups and promote inclusive participatory dialogue with authorities. Working from a UNDP model, the project focused on three aspects: transparency and accountability; rights awareness and advocacy; and linkages with other community-level groups. The project was exemplary in its effectiveness, both in terms of the clarity of outcomes to be achieved (and activities to achieve them) and of quantitative and qualitative standards of achievement. It raised awareness of voters’ and women’s rights, and initiated engagement between local officials and rural communities. This is also an example of a project where sustainability was included in the design. The capacity building activities included supporting partner organizations achieve a degree of financial independence, by providing technical advice on project design and management, and by helping them develop internal governance and accountability systems.

The project was motivated by women’s low political representation in Egypt. Despite women's active participation as voters and change-makers during the Arab Spring, their representation in Parliament deteriorated following abolition of the quota from around 12% in 2010 to 2% of the 2011/2012 parliament. The project built on the recommendations and results of as previous (2009-11) UNDEF-funded project. A significant proportion of women who received training as part of the project ran for political office, and a significant proportion of these succeeded, demonstrating concrete project impact. While many other factors were at work, based on figures analyzed that training made at least some direct contribution to female success during the 2015 elections. Combining party and individual candidates, the UNDEF project financed the training of 16% of the successful 56 party list candidates and 21% of the 19 successful independent candidates.

The project sought combat corruption – one of the major barriers to effective governance in Moldova - by strengthening civil society and enabling it to become an active participant in shaping of public policy on the subject. At the core of the project was building the capacity and reach of the previously established Anti-Corruption Alliance and related civil society organizations. Through intensive training, ongoing coaching and financial assistance with small sub-projects, the project also offered valuable support in building the knowledge and practical skills of smaller NGOs, both members and non-members, in the anti-corruption field.

The project’s objective was to increase the role of youth in public affairs and policy development in 20 locations in Pakistan. Its intended outcomes were: a strengthened networking and institutional capacities of the programme; enhanced understanding of the Voice of New Generation youth on social, political and development issues; and increased participation of Voice of New Generation groups in research and advocacy for policy making on youth issues.   The project design addressed issues directly relevant to youth and incorporated community based organizations into programme delivery which helped ensure an effective intervention and continuity of efforts. However, it assumed all participants were literate, had internet access, and the time and drive to develop and sustain a Voice of a New Generation effort within their area. This was the case for only a small minority of the targeted youth. This significantly reduced the relevance of the project.

The project sought to enhance government transparency at provincial level in Iraq by training civil society organizations in monitoring and accountability. This approach was particularly relevant in the Iraqi political context, where provincial legislatures’ (Governorates Councils) capacities are weak. Although impact was difficult to measure for the evaluation team, and much work remains to be done in order to meet overall objectives, the short-term achievements of the project were considerable. The project illustrated how civil society monitoring of provincial authorities in Iraq effectively can enhance government accountability – if both civil society and authorities are willing to make the effort.

The objective of the project was to improve the social and political participation of youth. In order to do this the grantee created and strengthened youth organizations to develop local programmes for the democratic participation of youth in two municipalities. The project also aimed to strengthen existing Municipal Youth Commissions and Municipal Youth Networks, and to support the drafting and approval of their municipal youth policies. The project also intended to help the municipal youth organizations and regional youth networks to obtain authorization to promote youth participation in social initiatives. The project brought the issue of youth rights and political advocacy to the fore with a gender-equity and social-inclusion approach. This approach addressed the needs of the beneficiary population, empowered youth organizations and networks and improved the quality of young people’s social and political participation at the local level. The participatory drafting of public agendas and policies in the two municipalities of has furthered social and political action among youth.

The project’s objective was to promote democratic governance by supporting and encouraging the creation of Citizen Participation Cells (CPC), as a facilitation mechanism among grassroots communities and local authorities, in order to address the low level of accountability of local authorities towards citizens. The project was implemented in 35 municipalities located in four departments of Benin. The grantee’s strategy focused on empowering citizens by fundamentally strengthening the grassroots communities. This was highly relevant in view of the profile of the beneficiary groups, vulnerable rural communities for the most part, which rarely had a voice in public affairs and had limited access to channels of influence. Supporting the practical skills of CPC members as well as municipal officials working at the local level allowed participation in local governance to take place more effectively and in a collaborative way.

The project focused on the creation of Youth Local Councils (YLC) in six villages in the West Bank – two in the north, two in the central area and two further south. All the young people in these villages were mobilized to register to vote in the YLC elections and underwent training in citizenship, democracy and electoral processes. Families, municipal councils, local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community members were involved in the campaign meetings or in overseeing the elections. The YLCs then received further training in the skills they would need in order to ‘govern’ effectively: negotiation, leadership, conducting meetings, fundraising, strategic planning and community action. They consulted with their youth constituents, the municipal council and community members, to devise a plan of action to contribute to their communities’ needs, and subsequently undertook a wide range of cultural and social activities, ranging from computer classes for other young people to the painting and renovation of school buildings.

The objective of the project was to involve grassroots communities with democratization processes across the Ituri District in the Province Orientale of the Democratic Republic of Congo. To achieve this, the grantee planned to strengthen the capacity of radio listeners’ clubs through training and practical support; to organize community debates using the radio listeners’ clubs; to produce radio broadcasts based on the community debates and on roundtable meetings between communities and officials; and to produce a range of news and educational broadcasts. The project provided local communities with knowledge they could use to convey their concerns to the authorities. It encouraged dialogue by inviting local political leaders to debate with communities and members of radio listeners’ clubs. The various elements of the project formed a well thought-out and organic whole, which was able to foster positive changes at community level. The focus on women’s participation in democratic debates was also relevant, and connected to the emphasis on access to broadcast news.

The objective of the project was to enhance trust-building and cooperation among local government, nongovernmental organizations and extractive industries in Indonesia, by strengthening the capacity and credibility of NGOs as partners in corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. The focus was on improving the ability of local NGOs to forge permanent partnerships with companies and local governments in CSR policy design and implementation. The project was relevant, given the legal and fiscal requirements governing CSR, the degree of poverty in extractive areas, the lack of enforcement of CSR policies, and the lack of attention paid to civil society engagement and NGO involvement as direct benefits of CSR policies. However, the project risks and problems in terms of corporate and local government commitment were neither adequately identified nor addressed during the design and implementation phase.