inclusion

This project aims to improve the provision of local democratic services to women, youth and students in disadvantaged communities in 5 regions. It will facilitate capacity development and create an enabling environment for Women Self Help Groups, youth associations and student groups to support their own "democracy action" initiatives. The project also seeks to initiate intensive campaigns on the Right to Information Act, in developing informed citizens. Additionally, the project will develop micro justice initiatives to address problems of infringement of rights; establishing para-legal clinics to facilitate the insurance of citizen rights and entitlements for development.

The project’s overall objective was to strengthen local democratic governance in mining regions in northern Upper Guinea in order to promote socio-economic development. Specifically the project aimed to enhance civic participation and transparency in public administration in the three urban municipalities of Dabola, inguiraye and Kouroussa. The grantee set out to create transparent spaces for civic participation and consultation; as well to strengthen drafting skills and to promote local governance such as Local Development Plans, an Annual Investment Plan and municipal budgets. The activities aimed to empower the most vulnerable groups, women and young people. The project was relevant since it addressed the main problems facing public administrations - a lack of knowledge and skills within local government and the reluctance of citizens to get involved and to participate in managing public affairs.

The project aimed to increase women’s representation in public office as part of wider support for women’s representation in political processes and civic leadership in Fiji. The project strategy was structured around three expected outcomes: increased awareness and knowledge of civic education principles among potential women leaders in Fiji; increased capacity of potential women leaders for active participation in civil leadership within both parliament and administrative boards and councils in Fiji and increased awareness within the broader community of the importance of the involvement of women in political processes and civic leadership in Fiji. The project had some success, in particular in training marginal women who are usually excluded from mainstream education and in working with church groups and political parties from across the political spectrum. Implementation, however, was marred by a number of administrative and management shortcomings including a lack of SMART indicators and irregular communication. In addition, the project encountered a number of external challenges including political tensions that generated delays in implementation and the tropical cyclone in February 2016 that left homeless ten thousands of people.

The main objective of the project was to strengthen democratic processes and the rule of law, through the progressive incorporation of grass-roots organizations and marginalized sections of the Moroccan society in elaborating and monitoring public policy. The project strategy was structured around capacity building of civil society organizations to participate in democratic mechanisms, and support to marginalized groups, in particular women and youth, to foster their inclusion as protagonists in the management of public affairs. In the context of the Morocco’s democratic transition, the project’s efforts to promote the new Constitution was very useful, as most civil society organizations were unacquainted with concepts and mechanisms of participatory democracy, as well as with the new prerogatives as set in the country’s 2011 Constitution.

The project had the overall development goal of facilitating the recognition and replication of the Peoples Council in the country as a democratization mechanism in local governance. The immediate project objective was to establish, expand and institutionalize the Peoples Council in 21 barangays in the city and six municipalities in the Metro Naga area. In Naga City, the People’s Council proved itself as an effective mechanism for public participation, particularly for representatives of poor and other vulnerable groups. The project’s initiative to replicate the success of the Naga City People’s council was a relevant contribution to the broader aim of enhancing local democracy in the Philippines. The project had mixed success in achieving its targets and encountered some major disappointments in reaching the goal of institutionalizing the People’s Council in the 27 target local government areas. However, the People’s Councils were officially recognized in the case of four of the six municipal people’s councils, but only in five of the 21 barangay people’s councils. Despite this, grantee cannot be faulted on its effort to achieve the project goals, and, given the scope of what the project sought to achieve, a great deal was accomplished.

The project aimed to empower young people so that their voices could be heard by public authorities. The project focused on strengthening youth capacity, youth initiatives and dialogue between youth organizations and authorities as partners in public policy. It was a continuation of a programme which the grantee had been conducting since 2005 through its youth network in 12 municipalities across the country. The project was based on the finding that participation of young Chadians in the public sphere was very low and that there was a need to increase their capacity for action. The project was relevant, since there is no real youth strategy in the country and youth represent 70 per cent of the population but lack access to democratic space and have a low quality of education.

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 reinforce the political participation of former slaves, by promoting the equality of rights between former slaves (Harratines) and former masters (Bydhanes) in order to maintain inter-community peace in the region of Hoch El Gharbi, desert areas located in the South-East of Mauritania. The project was implemented in 40 villages including 120 Adwabas (isolated areas populated by former slaves), and focused on Harratines’ literacy, civic education, community capacity building and inter-community dialogue between them and the Bydhanes. Various factors that remained unaddressed limited the project’s relevance: including attitudes towards slavery and lack of engagement from authorities on this issue. In addition the Harratines do not have the operational and institutional capacity to represent their own interests in the political arena.

The overall objective of the project was to reinforce community dialogue and participatory democracy in the Western part of Cote d’Ivoire, with a view to enhancing social cohesion and the enhancement of democratic values at local level. To achieve this objective, the project had three outputs: Civil society organizations (CSOs) and the authorities are better equipped to use community support techniques; CSO’s providing support to communities on the management of conflicts; and enhanced involvement of local communities in development initiatives. The project was remarkably relevant, in that it correctly identified the lack of social cohesion as a major risk for conflict returning to the target areas. The project developed strategies and activities that specifically addressed the needs of the local communities and those of the CSOs working with them. However, the project design phase did not sufficiently involve the communities and CSOs, and the project should have involved more technical experts.

The project was a follow-up to an earlier initiative that targeted 15 municipalities in the six Lebanese governorates. Under the UNDEF grant, the project was an extension of the initial programme, more focused on the areas of Western and Northern Bekaa to ensure a greater impact at the country level. The aim of the project was to empower youth, and tje wider community through them, to render municipal councils of Western and Northern Bekaa more transparent and accountable. The project was divided into two phases: in the first phase, five democratically elected Youth Shadow Councils (YSCs) received thematic and technical training on good governance, advocacy strategies, conducting needs assessments, access to public services, and budget analysis. In the second phase, the elected council was responsible for training another group of participants in order to disseminate the principles of transparency and accountability and motivate citizens to advocate for reforms and get involved in their community’s development process. The project mobilized and trained 200 young women and men aged 17-29 in the municipalities of Der El Ahmar, Baalbeck, Taalbaya, Saadnayel, and Sawireh. It had a relevant and well-defined strategy with concrete indicators that facilitated the monitoring of achievement levels.