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LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democracy Through LGBT Political Participation in South Africa

Project design processes must carefully think through the outputs required for outcomes to be achieved and be realistic in what transformation training can bring in a relatively short period of time to a political party, which is not just a technical entity, but a political body. One training on LGBTQI+ issues for a political party is unlikely to trigger significant policy or legal changes in a two-year period.
Project Partner
Triangle Project
Project Description
The project aims to strengthen South Africa's democracy through increasing equal participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people and promoting understanding among political parties and the Independent Electoral Commission around the importance of diverse representation. This will be achieved through the training of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex leaders in civic engagement strategy and working with parties and the Commission to adopt policies and procedures to improve their representation, participation, voter registration and turn out.
Evaluation Date
August 2023
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

The volume of activities proposed by a project does not always equate to a greater impact. Sometimes giving more focus, either in terms of geographic spread or to the activities being undertaken, can generate more sustained and involved engagement and more substantive change.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Grassroots Women’s Groups to Promote and Protect Civic Space in Uganda

For training to resonate and be most impactful, they need to be delivered in a setting and format that appeals to participants. Ensuring that they are conducted in the language participants are most familiar with and in an interactive and engaging format can aid with comprehension and ultimately impact.
Project Partner
All in One Womens Association
Project Description
The project goal is to empower 6,000 women by raising awareness of their gender specific rights, promoting women’s political participation, and addressing all forms of injustices that affect women’s wellbeing; strengthen the capacity of 100 unregistered women’s groups to become registered under the NGOs Act 2016; and support 100 registered women’s groups in advocating, promoting and protecting civic space in Uganda. Project activities will incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis, as it impacts women, including gender-based violence as well as social and economic pressures.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizens: empowering local communities, improving local governance

The following were the factors for a well-designed and effectively implemented youth engagement project:

  • The project design with a theory of change that was shared and assimilated by the implementation team and the implementing partners.


  • The strategy used to enter new communities, which was pragmatic, culturally sensitive, and politically neutral.


  • The choice of implementing partners (they were from within the communities, credible, and well-known at the local level).


  • The partnership strategy, which was based on empowering implementing partners and building their capacity.


  • The adequate approach for positive youth engagement (recognition, accountability, and exploring their potential).


  • The quality of the training programme and the diversity of learning formats.


  • Well thought-out communication.


UDF-807-PAL
Project Partner
Zimam for Creativity and Development
Project Description
Zimam’s Leadership Incubator wants to inspire young leaders and give them the confidence and training to inspire their communities. The program offers policy and problem-solving workshops, engagement and meetings with business, political, and social leaders, and opportunities for youth to implement their own initiatives aimed at social transformation. In doing so, we can empower young people to realize their potential as confident and capable change-makers who can lead their communities. Project activities also incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis as it impacts youth.
Evaluation Date
July 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizens: empowering local communities, improving local governance

This project has demonstrated that even in the complex and difficult context of Palestine, setting realistic objectives in terms of the number of beneficiaries and communities of intervention, and adopting a pragmatic approach that includes relevant and useful activities such as training and community services, can engage different target groups, regardless of their political affiliations and sensitivities, and generate impact at both the individual and community levels.

Project Partner
Zimam for Creativity and Development
Project Description
Zimam’s Leadership Incubator wants to inspire young leaders and give them the confidence and training to inspire their communities. The program offers policy and problem-solving workshops, engagement and meetings with business, political, and social leaders, and opportunities for youth to implement their own initiatives aimed at social transformation. In doing so, we can empower young people to realize their potential as confident and capable change-makers who can lead their communities. Project activities also incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis as it impacts youth.
Evaluation Date
March 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizens: empowering local communities, improving local governance

Given the numerous challenges of the Palestinian context, it is increasingly relevant to engage Palestinian youth in order to increase their individual resilience and help them cope with the stress they face. Youth in Gaza face double exclusion compared to their peers in the West Bank as a result of settlements and internal conflict, which makes engaging them more difficult and therefore requires additional funding, effort, and monitoring to achieve meaningful change and results.
Project Partner
Zimam for Creativity and Development
Project Description
Zimam’s Leadership Incubator wants to inspire young leaders and give them the confidence and training to inspire their communities. The program offers policy and problem-solving workshops, engagement and meetings with business, political, and social leaders, and opportunities for youth to implement their own initiatives aimed at social transformation. In doing so, we can empower young people to realize their potential as confident and capable change-makers who can lead their communities. Project activities also incorporate actions in response to the Covid-19 crisis as it impacts youth.
Evaluation Date
March 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democracy Academy for Young Adults in El Salvador

The project was conceived as a comprehensive capacity development project with an approach involving participants into the development of replication strategies and the development of common actions and strategies in traditional and non-traditional communication spaces. However, during its implementation, the project has mainly been an academic endeavour, with a rather classic approach to capacity development methodologies and systems. In this project, as designed, the components of socialisation by the students as well as the engagement with public authorities should have remained a priority, and practical, on-the-job training approaches should have been privileged as originally foreseen. If these practical aspects are not considered a priority, a more standardized approach to capacity development should be followed at the project design stage.

Project Partner
Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social
Project Description
The Democracy Academy for Young Adults (DAY) is a project that contributes to the strengthening and the promotion ofe democracy through the formation and active participation of young leaders in spaces of dialogue, social control, and defense of the democratic system with civil society and key political actors. The digital platforms used are essential to deepen and expand the exercise of democratic practices in this time of technological revolution.
Evaluation Date
March 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democracy Academy for Young Adults in El Salvador

The adoption of a coordination strategy between the project and other relevant actors (mostly from the Academic arena) would have been key in order to optimize resources and avoid duplication, while strengthening coordination. It is therefore important that UNDEF continues to require such strategies for all its projects.
Project Partner
Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social
Project Description
The Democracy Academy for Young Adults (DAY) is a project that contributes to the strengthening and the promotion ofe democracy through the formation and active participation of young leaders in spaces of dialogue, social control, and defense of the democratic system with civil society and key political actors. The digital platforms used are essential to deepen and expand the exercise of democratic practices in this time of technological revolution.
Evaluation Date
March 2023
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Communities Threatened with Displacement in Thailand

Mobilizing funding for local and or provincial cooperation and partnership on policy issues can be highly impactful, as it enables structural problem-solving on policy making and legal challenges. It is, however important, that grantees continue to identify the funding opportunities needed to ensure that an effective team remains in place long term that can coordinate policy efforts, lobby the right circles, and communicate across relevant stakeholders.
Project Partner
Chumchonthai Foundation
Project Description
Economic growth has benefited many citizens but has in some cases resulted in being a threat to cultural existence, livelihoods, and land/citizenship rights of communities. This project aims to promote the social, political and economic inclusion of marginalized communities in the Andaman region of Thailand, through capacity development, advocacy and community campaigning to eliminate discriminatory laws, policies, and practices. It seeks to help members of marginalized communities to gain legal identities and acquire the political and legal know-how, and organizational skills needed to assert their rights and in participating in decision-making processes. Moreover, it will support media and public-advocacy campaigns designed to increase local authorities’ knowledge of and compliance with laws and policies, recognizing the rights of marginalized people and communities.
Evaluation Date
December 2020
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Democratic Dialogue through Media in Sierra Leone

The project strategy was two-pronged: on the one hand it enhanced the skills of journalists in researching and producing human rights stories - the “supply side” - and on the other hand, work was done with civil society organizations, journalism students and the broader public to raise awareness about the role that media can play in the promotion and protection of human rights - the “demand side”.
Project Partner
Journalists for Human Rights
Project Description
The project aimed to build capacity of local media in Sierra Leone to facilitate a national dialogue among civil society, government and citizens. It targeted primary beneficiaries that included: journalists from radio and print media who were awarded fellowships and trained in investigative journalism through production and publishing human right stories; NGO grantees; and local communities targeted through forums and workshops to increase public knowledge on the role of the media in human rights protection and promotion. The project responded to a need for improved democratic dialogue, and correctly identified the need for enhanced democratic debate as a precondition for entrenching democratic values and policies in post-war Sierra Leone. It also correctly identified the media as a key player, both as a space to “host” that debate and as a provider of substantive information. However the project's relevance was reduced by its failure formally to engage with editors/publishers and with relevant high-level institutional actors. The project document lacked a complete analysis of the stakeholders, their respective needs and the various messages that should be addressed to them. Nevertheless, the project contributed to establishing a critical mass of journalists aware of human rights reporting and of the challenges of balanced political reporting.
Evaluation Date
March 2011
Theme
Country