monitoring

This project seeks to improve access to justice for some 2,900 indigenous women living in rural areas of Tecpan, Guatemala through free legal support, accompaniment of survivors, and strengthening local governance and municipal response to violence against women and girls. In addition, the project aims to increase the capacities of 175 key public actors including community leaders, service providers, and police at the local, municipal, and departmental level to provide quality services to indigenous survivors and promote human rights.

The Tunisia meta-evaluation of UNDEF-funded projects implemented between 2013 and 2021 shows positive trends at two principal levels: (1) with respect to Tunisia’s overall development context and needs; and (2) with respect to local democracy-building (sub-national, sub-regional, and in marginalized areas) via projects that commit to a participatory CSO-centric approach. Most successful UNDEF project strategies fall within two broad categories: (1) project designs based on regular participation by partners and stakeholders, especially when these are engaged in finetuning activities and their content; (2) participatory models connecting citizens, CSOs and local authorities (as seen in joint activity designs). Gender and youth elements are prioritized and integrated throughout the projects and within activities, albeit at different levels of effectiveness. A critical element of the meta-evaluation is the identification of synergies across projects, as well as trends that have slowed, stalled, or provided implementation challenges to projects, with recommendation to alleviate these in future. Coherence and Relevance To date (2013-2021), UNDEF has funded 17 projects that have buttressed Tunisia’s democratic transition by supporting government strategic priorities and aligning with broader democracy-assistance funding trends. UNDEF-funded projects have a clear CSO focus and stress participatory and dialogue-based project designs. UNDEF has a niche advantage of funding geographically diverse projects, implemented at the local level by smaller CSOs with solid areas of expertise and ability to work effectively within marginalized areas, where need is highest. At the time of implementation, and under the framework of the priorities defined by government-donor strategic plans, all projects addressed relevant and urgent democracy needs, and responded to the needs of target groups. UNDEF projects which were geographically diverse, with a significant focus on local communities and marginalized areas, were relevant. Effectiveness With nearly all projects facing contextual and institutional delays, effectiveness depended on three main factors: (1) the capacity, expertise, and issue-specific strength of the UNDEF’s grantees, (2) the adaptability of project design (elasticity) and clearly identified project objectives and activities, (3) as well as timely communication and consultation with all partners and stakeholders. Three trends can be highlighted. First, trainings were seen by most project participants as useful and successful but could sometimes have been more effective had they been clearly articulated around the other project components, especially advocacy, during the design phase, to better harness the newly acquired knowledge. Second, UNDEF’s grantees successfully identified a niche area of working directly with newly established municipalities on participative democracy and several projects were effective in achieving their objectives. Third, positive results were also obtained when well-defined methods, such as coaching and mentoring, or techniques for establishing new participatory budgeting processes were applied. Efficiency Efficiency varied widely among projects and was largely impacted by institutional delays and a continuing depreciation of the local currency. The increase in funds resulting from this depreciation missed opportunities in optimizing budget use and enhancing the projects’ general efficiency. Efficiency was neither improved nor impaired by low utilization rates or extensions. Nevertheless, and despite the limited amounts allocated to partnerships, the latter generally enhanced efficiency, especially in finding solutions to implementation and contextual issues. Impact We found highest impact at the CSO-level, where civil society was strengthened through its engagement with local authorities and citizen trainings, broadening of CSO networks, and expanding in geographic reach. UNDEF-funded projects have positively impacted citizen trust in local democracy by augmenting participation in local governance beyond elections. Activities that included participatory and dialogue-based elements across project designs showed positive effects, as did projects that work at multi-scalar levels or focused on niche-expert issues. Gender-specific activities also yielded positive impact. Sustainability Projects that supported long-term processes and mechanisms, that produce activities and materials adaptable over-time and in different geographic regions, have the highest potential for achieving sustainability. We found sustainability trends in participatory mechanisms at the local level especially in municipalities, among local partners who continued their partnership beyond the life of the UNDEF-grant pro-bono or with new funding, and in some platforms and materials that are adaptable over time. We also found sustainability among CSOs and partners that were able to secure new funding streams after the completion of UNDEF-grants and expanding their activities thematically and geographically. UNDEF-Added Value A critical value is that UNDEF-funded projects are not affected by Tunisia's polarized political context. The range of grantees shows that UNDEF works well with partners across political and ideological orientations. UNDEF-projects also complement larger development initiatives by working at the expert-local level, with a (self-evident) focus on marginalized areas where development need is highest. Conclusions & Recommendations The meta-evaluation concludes that UNDEF-funded projects carried out by knowledgeable grantees with technical expertise relevant to the scope of activities have demonstrated strongest project designs and problem-solving skills, enhanced by what this evaluation refers to as “project elasticity.” These qualities result in effective, efficient, coherent and context-relevant initiatives. Projects that build strategies to transfer ownership of processes to participants and stakeholders have the highest potential for effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. This evaluation proposes a set of recommendations around processes to further strengthen UNDEF-funded work in Tunisia in the future. UNDEF is at a competitive advantage to continue funding both local expert CSOs (e.g., capital-based), as well as smaller grassroots organizations. Recommendations for processes include on-going reviews of activities as they function coherently in project designs, and as these relate to contextual needs in the near future, in which Tunisia is moving towards democratic consolidation. Project implementation partnerships play an important role in varying degrees throughout all grants and are critical to the transfer of ownership and sustainability – recommendations specifically address this process and relationship. The evaluation also recommends a centralized platform of all UNDEF-funded materials, as these are useful for future project designs and contain critical information for future grantees.

The project works to improve access to education in Brazil, by tackling mismanagement in construction of schools; empowering civil society groups to pressure local and federal government official for more accountability; building a network of local monitoring organizations; gathering robust information on problems in several phases of construction and delivery, presented in semi-annual reports to Federal Government and media; holding a final conference on lessons learned and how to redesign policies for effective monitoring and control with the help of local civil society organizations.

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 was generated by UNDEF itself, which approached the grantee and asked it to design the initiative as a response to the asymmetrical power balance between cars and humans in many post-Soviet cities. The project objective was “To create a systematic long-term approach and corresponding tools to effectively impact pedestrian strategy development and state accountability to pedestrian policy development and execution.” The project focus was timely and relevant. The project approach was innovative and agile in adapting to shifts in the context. The project achieved its objectives and was cost-efficient and well managed. Although it faces sustainability challenges, the project approach and grantee could potentially adapt and tailor their work to both international donors and other interested stakeholders. UNDEF’s flexible approach; initiative in generating project ideas; and willingness to generate a project in partnership with a small organization in response to a particular need are valuable assets in the context of this project.

This was a well-structured project which laid the foundation for a nationwide network of journalists concerned with human rights issues, particularly in rural marginalized areas. The project was relevant and much needed given the context of human rights abuses and the suppression of the media. It was also appropriate, although there are constraints there is sufficient democratic space for human rights influenced journalism since journalists were able to write about a range of human rights issues and call duty-bearers to account. The project also met its objectives: the skills of journalists in relation to human rights issues have been enhanced, reporting on human rights has increased, and civil society capacity to understand how the media works has improved – though closer engagement between NGOs and the media could be further strengthened.

The project’s objective was to increase participation of women in decision making to develop sustainable, decentralized, bottom-up planning processes in Ghana. The grantee institutionalized Women’s Group Advocacy (WOMGA) Platforms to engage and dialogue with local government authorities in decision making processes on public service delivery. At the heart of the project strategy was the mobilization and empowerment of 150 women, who were trained and deployed to monitor policy implementation at the district level using a Gender Monitoring and Tracking Tool, and to champion the participation of women in local planning and implementation processes. The project’s intervention logic was sound and had clarity and coherence. Institutionalizing the WOMGA Platforms facilitated regular engagement with local government authorities, and hence effectively contributed to the overall development goal of increasing women’s participation in decision-making process on public service delivery. Local officials commended the high level of preparation they had to undertake for the public sessions the project held, during which they faced thorough questioning by the WOMGA members and the community.

The project’s objective was to strengthen the political leadership capacity of 1,500 young women from 10 public and private universities based in five districts of Uganda. The grantee aimed to increase awareness among the project’s target group and to provide them with access to information about women’s political life, as well as civic, voting, electoral and democratic processes. This was expected to enhance the leadership capacities of the young women to participate in the March 2016 general elections. Following these elections, an additional component was included in order to create a platform for leadership development of young women in Uganda. Although women’s political advancement at the time of project implementation was a national priority, the actual implementation of related international, regional and national legal and policy commitments remained an important challenge. This was due to persisting socio-cultural factors, such as the high illiteracy rate among youth and girls, lack of access to appropriate information related to political, human and civic rights, early marriage and sexual and gender based violence. While highly relevant in this respect, the project did not address the significant risk of SGBV that young women are exposed to because of their interest in political participation.

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 project’s objective was to strengthen the capacities of selected local Mukim communities in the Aceh province of Indonesia. A Mukim is a subdivision of a subdistrict and comprise of a number of villages. The aim of the project was to develop, advocate for and implement an alternative model of natural resource governance that promotes the participation and protects the rights of local communities, fosters environmental sustainability, and advances the interests of vulnerable and marginalized populations. The grantee’s approach was inspired by alternative governance models previously implemented by other local Mukim communities. At the time of project implementation, the legal framework which recognizes the Mukims’s authority and asserts its rights to manage its natural resources under Aceh's Special Autonomy status was not yet enforced. As Mukims represent indigenous communities in Aceh, the intended strategy was suited to the need of enhancing the credibility of Mukims. The existing Mukim associations had not previouslyt been in district policy making since they lacked visions, skills, orientations and strategies to build equal relations with public and governmental authorities.