consultants

The project “Strengthening Democracy through Freedom of Expression and a Peace Agenda for Journalists in a post-conflict Colombia” was implemented by the Foundation for the Freedom of the Press (Fundación para la Libertad de Prensa, FLIP) from 1 December 2014 to 30 November 2016. The overall development goal of the project was to create an agenda where the right to freedom of expression can be fully realized and to build a strong media network that can advocate in a post-conflict Colombia without retaliation or restriction. The project coincided with the culmination of the peace negotiations in Havana between the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People’s Army (FARC), with the Final Peace Agreement ratified in November 2016.  The project had three outcomes: increased participation of Colombian journalists and civil society in an open, plural and democratic debate about the challenges and the role of media in a post-conflict peace time Colombia;increased awareness among the Government, FARC and civil society of the impact conflict has had on the media’s ability to exercise the freedom of expression; and increased understanding among journalists in conflict zones on thematic areas related to their work.  The project aimed at reaching the following two main groups of beneficiaries: journalists operating in conflict areas2 who would be actively engaged in the process of developing an Agenda for the Freedom of the Press and Peace; and other journalists with online access (through FLIP’s website) to documented resources/tools

The Electoral Justice Principles for Trust in the Electoral Process project sought to raise the integrity standard of the electoral processes in Africa by addressing the relations between the key electoral justice institutions and their relevance and accessibility to the electorate. Its main objectives were to: produce a set of electoral justice principles drafted by a group of chief justices and senior electoral and political leaders from Africa and other continents; and support the implementation of these principles in two African countries. Its intended outcomes were to increase trust in electoral justice authorities; reduce violence related to electoral dispute settlements, and to have political parties, candidates and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the pilot implementation country able to claim, advocate and defend rights for public integrity consultations. The project undertook minimal consultations with the large and dynamic electoral assistance sector and missed opportunities to tap its experience, explore collaboration and develop synergies with other efforts, such as the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security that promote the integrity of elections. The norms themselves were not disseminated as planned so awareness of them is extremely limited and they were not endorsed by any international organization as anticipated. Most of those interviewed felt the principles needed wider consultations and did not have the weight required to make significant changes. The project was not Africa-specific and African involvement was limited primarily to the launch in Ghana and the APEJ-SL. The principles and guidelines were global in scope, and were not tailored to Sierra Leone for the pilot. It also focused on general electoral integrity issues and lacked a clear focus on electoral justice and how specifically this could be achieved through the creation of a steering committee.

The project aimed to develop the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into a functional institution able to protect and enforce human rights in line with Ethiopian laws and international norms and standards. As the EHRC was a relatively young institution, the grantee did not only focus on the development of human rights protection skills, but prioritized in the project’s initial phase also the development of operational management capacity. The grantee could have adjusted the initial project plan to avoid overlap with activities already implemented under the Democratic Institutions Programme managed by UNDP. The relevance of the project was further limited by the grantee’s weak risk assessment and mitigation. The original design failed to appreciate the risks surrounding the project, most importantly the international grantee took permission to set up an office in Addis for granted which it then did not obtain. The project also appeared unprepared to address the challenging political environment in which the EHRC operated.