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LESSON

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

It is vital to document and present evidence of how a project meets target indicators in the delivery of its activities both for internal learning but also to be able to demonstrate effectiveness and impact in a robust and comprehensive way. This requires a dedicated person in charge of monitoring, evaluating, and learning.
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: Enabling Women to Participate in Sustainable Water Management in Armenia

Without the team’s emergency management skills that have been developed throughout the decades of work at the national and regional levels as epidemiologists, toxicologists, and water and hygiene experts, as well as the donor’s flexibility, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Nagorno Karabakh the project would not have reached its objective and improved the daily lives of the target population. While the staff’s professional and results-oriented performance and UNDEF’s flexible approach allowed to not only deliver the intended outputs but also extend the project’s geographical and demographical scopes, it is generally important to consider various internal and external risk factors as part of a risk mitigation and emergency response strategy to ensure the full achievement of the project’s objective.
Project Partner
Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment NGO
Project Description
The project aims to contribute to strategies regarding the sustainable management of natural water resources in the Ararat Valley through enhancement of women’s groups that supply oversight and equity in community water and sanitation resources. Three groups will be interlinked in their actions to facilitate discussion on tariff compensation; monitor the participation of oversight activities on irrigation; and implement four pilot projects at the community level. Pilot projects will identify community-based participatory approaches to decision-making involving women to improve access and management of water resources.
Evaluation Date
November 2021
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Helping Teenagers to Transform their Communities in Ukraine

Explore market costs for professional services and direct expenses for responsible yet effective and fair budgeting for project activities and personnel.
Project Description
The project aims to foster civic participation of young people in Ukraine by training them to become responsible and pro-active citizens. The central activity of the project is a non-formal civic education training program in four stages that will train teenagers to become "Junior Agents of Change" in four pilot cities. Trained Junior Agents of Change will implement development projects aiming for the transformation of their social environment and the development of their communities.
Evaluation Date
September 2020
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Empowering Female and Youth Domestic Workers in Uganda

Employers are more likely to introduce contracts and treat Domestic Worker staff better when they feel they are part of the discussions, not when they feel the decision is being forced on them. Getting Domestic Workers and employers on the same page, though not always easy, is key.
Project Partner
Platform for Labour Action
Project Description
The project aims to promote the recognition of domestic work as decent work and domestic workers (WDs) contribution to society. 3500 domestic workers reached will be positioned to take individual and collective actions to improve working conditions. Two Associations of existing 61 mutual support groups of the domestic workers will be established to build solidarity and support for each other, develop advocacy strategies and represent themselves with support from PLA in influencing change. This project will also further the participation of female and youth DWs in claiming their rights, accessing services including legal aid and inclusion in decision making in policy, local and national government processes.
Evaluation Date
September 2020
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Transparency and Public Accountability in Education in Brazil

A project where approximately 90% of human resources are volunteers, entails risks of lack of motivation and commitment. This should be included in the project risk assessment and it must be defined as measures to mitigate these risks.
Project Partner
Transparencia Brasil
Project Description
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.
Evaluation Date
June 2020
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Fostering Ethical Democracy and Advancing Micro Justice in India


In all projects that involve challenging established power structures, staff members that are most visible in project implementation ('frontline staff') face a high risk of personal reprisals. It is essential for grantees to be aware of these risks and take the appropriate measures necessary to protect frontline staff, for example ensuring the backing of a larger organization or having senior management playing a frontline role in project implementation as well.


Project Partner
DHAN Foundation
Project Description
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.
Evaluation Date
September 2018
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democratic Processes for Bangsamoro Government in Lanao Lake Watershed Reservation in the Philippines

According to implementing partners and beneficiaries, one of the main reasons for the project’s limited effectiveness was that the project missed a fully empowered local manager and/or coordinator, in order to allow for swift integration with the local population, adjustment with local customs, and acknowledgment of highly sensitive social and political-religious sensibilities in the target area.
Project Partner
Tanggol Kalikasan
Project Description
The goal of the project was the objective was to build a strong coalition to ensure the efficient management, conservation and protection of the Lake Lanao Watershed Reservation – through democratic processes involving community integration and the introduction of partnerships, pre-consultation, capacity building, the promotion of micro-projects, and monitoring of policy implementation. The design of the project’s training methodology was appropriate to introduce the basic concept of ecology, best management practices, and to raise awareness of applicable environmental laws, rules and regulations. The project contributed to the joint elaboration and adoption of environmental action plans, as well as supporting policies and ordinances on watershed, fisheries and solid waste management. Print and radio media outputs also facilitated the wider public’s key role in the protection of the environment and to empower individual citizens to participate in the enforcement of environmental laws. The grantee managed to work with the full range of different political, religious and social leaders in the Lanao Lake Watershed Reservation. This was reported by the beneficiaries as an unparalleled achievement.
Evaluation Date
March 2016
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Strengthening Democratic Participation of Maya Communities in Rural Guatemala

The majority of the project’s multidisciplinary expert team in Guatemala were local to Q´eqchi Maya. The integration of detailed local knowledge contributed to the project’s credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of beneficiaries and local counterparts.

Project Partner
Asociacion Probienestar en Accion - Saaq Ach'oool Nimla Kaleb'aal
Project Description
The project’s goal was to increase the recognition of traditional authorities and women of the Indigenous Communities of northern Alta Verapaz and their participation in decision-making processes and administration of justice. The grantee targeted groups who have historically lacked opportunity to participate in the decision-making at the local and national level, including leaders from the 33 indigenous communities officially recognized by the municipalities of Chisec and Raxruhá in northern Alta Verapaz, and the Maya women´s groups belonging to the Association of Organized Q´eqchi’ (AQT) in Chisec. The overall objective of the project was to promote the recognition of indigenous groups. In practice, the project established conditions for inclusive urban and rural development council systems, encouraging indigenous peoples and women in particular, to voice their concerns and get involved in decision making processes. This approach filled a gap in the existing consultation mechanisms and conveyed the needs of communities to the authorities in charge of the design of local development projects.
Evaluation Date
June 2015
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Involving women and youth CSOs in strengthening democratic debate and public news media around elections in Afghanistan

There was a large turnover of project managers considering the short duration of the project. This likely contributed to delays in implementation and the lack of programmatic synergies between the different project elements.
Project Partner
Development Humanitarian Services Afghanistan / The Killid Group
Project Description
Involving women and youth CSOs in strengthening democratic debate and public news media around elections in Afghanistan sought to strengthen the voice of civil society and foster sustainable democratic practices within Afghanistan by generating a deeper public debate among women and youth groups around the 2014 presidential electoral process. The project lost relevance however in implementation. Only a few activities were done in the pre-electoral period and only a portion of the intended CSO-journalist elements were done. In addition, the predominate use of Pashto in the round tables and reporting, narrowed its relevance to the two-thirds of the country that use Dari.
Evaluation Date
March 2015
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Involving women and youth CSOs in strengthening democratic debate and public news media around elections in Afghanistan

The grantee used primarily its own reporters and staff to implement the project so any experience and knowledge gained under the project would remain with them. The grantee continues to use some of the civil society groups or information or as participants in some of its programming.
Project Partner
Development Humanitarian Services Afghanistan / The Killid Group
Project Description
Involving women and youth CSOs in strengthening democratic debate and public news media around elections in Afghanistan sought to strengthen the voice of civil society and foster sustainable democratic practices within Afghanistan by generating a deeper public debate among women and youth groups around the 2014 presidential electoral process. The project lost relevance however in implementation. Only a few activities were done in the pre-electoral period and only a portion of the intended CSO-journalist elements were done. In addition, the predominate use of Pashto in the round tables and reporting, narrowed its relevance to the two-thirds of the country that use Dari.
Evaluation Date
March 2015
Theme
Country