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Egypt

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Women in Democratic Transition in Egypt

A key success behind the project was the grantee’s dense network of local NGOs outside the capital. Over the years, the grantee has selected individuals from these NGOs and trained them, after which they have returned to their homes to serve as trainers and advocates. Through its in-house training manager, the grantee ensured that curricula were fit for the purpose, the audience, and the location, leading to more women standing as representatives. Consequently, an impressive number of activities were implemented at a high level of quality.
Project Partner
The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights
Project Description
The project was motivated by women’s low political representation in Egypt. Despite women's active participation as voters and change-makers during the Arab Spring, their representation in Parliament deteriorated following abolition of the quota from around 12% in 2010 to 2% of the 2011/2012 parliament. The project built on the recommendations and results of as previous (2009-11) UNDEF-funded project. A significant proportion of women who received training as part of the project ran for political office, and a significant proportion of these succeeded, demonstrating concrete project impact. While many other factors were at work, based on figures analyzed that training made at least some direct contribution to female success during the 2015 elections. Combining party and individual candidates, the UNDEF project financed the training of 16% of the successful 56 party list candidates and 21% of the 19 successful independent candidates.
Evaluation Date
July 2015
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Women in Democratic Transition in Egypt

Thanks to the grantee’s dense network and strong capacity of local NGOs this project was able to effectively implement activities in rural areas, even in traditional and remote regions. By reducing travel costs and enhancing the participation of women at grass-roots level, this contributed to positive findings related to effectiveness, efficiency, and ultimately impact and sustainability.
Project Partner
The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights
Project Description
The project was motivated by women’s low political representation in Egypt. Despite women's active participation as voters and change-makers during the Arab Spring, their representation in Parliament deteriorated following abolition of the quota from around 12% in 2010 to 2% of the 2011/2012 parliament. The project built on the recommendations and results of as previous (2009-11) UNDEF-funded project. A significant proportion of women who received training as part of the project ran for political office, and a significant proportion of these succeeded, demonstrating concrete project impact. While many other factors were at work, based on figures analyzed that training made at least some direct contribution to female success during the 2015 elections. Combining party and individual candidates, the UNDEF project financed the training of 16% of the successful 56 party list candidates and 21% of the 19 successful independent candidates.
Evaluation Date
July 2015
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Women in Democratic Transition in Egypt

Using credible data and statistics, the project made a tangible and significant contribution to advancing women’s democratic rights. The grantee was a leading force in lobbying for constitutional measures to ensure women’s representation – unsuccessful in the case of parliament but successful in the case of local councils. It also took the lead in successfully advocating for the institution of female quotas on political lists for the 2015 parliamentary elections and the adoption of a political parties’ Code of Ethics (formulated by the project, based on a situation analysis and consultations with 20-30 political parties) regarding women’s democratic participation.
Project Partner
The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights
Project Description
The project was motivated by women’s low political representation in Egypt. Despite women's active participation as voters and change-makers during the Arab Spring, their representation in Parliament deteriorated following abolition of the quota from around 12% in 2010 to 2% of the 2011/2012 parliament. The project built on the recommendations and results of as previous (2009-11) UNDEF-funded project. A significant proportion of women who received training as part of the project ran for political office, and a significant proportion of these succeeded, demonstrating concrete project impact. While many other factors were at work, based on figures analyzed that training made at least some direct contribution to female success during the 2015 elections. Combining party and individual candidates, the UNDEF project financed the training of 16% of the successful 56 party list candidates and 21% of the 19 successful independent candidates.
Evaluation Date
July 2015
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Women in Democratic Transition in Egypt

While the project’s media component was successful judged on its own terms, it was something of an add-on to the overall project strategy. Media training and outreach could have been mainstreamed into the other elements of the project - policy advocacy or second capacity building, or treated as an entirely separate project.
Project Partner
The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights
Project Description
The project was motivated by women’s low political representation in Egypt. Despite women's active participation as voters and change-makers during the Arab Spring, their representation in Parliament deteriorated following abolition of the quota from around 12% in 2010 to 2% of the 2011/2012 parliament. The project built on the recommendations and results of as previous (2009-11) UNDEF-funded project. A significant proportion of women who received training as part of the project ran for political office, and a significant proportion of these succeeded, demonstrating concrete project impact. While many other factors were at work, based on figures analyzed that training made at least some direct contribution to female success during the 2015 elections. Combining party and individual candidates, the UNDEF project financed the training of 16% of the successful 56 party list candidates and 21% of the 19 successful independent candidates.
Evaluation Date
July 2015
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt

The project’s responses to unexpected problems in security were reasonable and effective, but were ad hoc in nature rather than based on any risk assessment and management strategy. Particularly since the project was designed with Egypt’s election schedule in mind, the risk of delays and disruptions might have been foreseeable.
Project Partner
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The context of the project was the period of intense political activity and instability in Egypt following the 2011 revolution. Within a highly volatile environment that included repression of civil society organisations and democracy advocates, the project gave special emphasis to training in the use of social media to stimulate citizen journalism and free exchange of thoughts. Overall the project was relevant in view of the focus on youth which was well supported by baseline assessments that identified low youth participation in democratic processes. It was also important in view of the overall political environment leading up to elections during the time of the project implementation. The focus on social media was also relevant and effective given the role it had played as a catalyst of the Arab Spring.
Evaluation Date
April 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt

While decentralization of activities is a positive goal, in times of political volatility and security challenges, extending democracy support beyond the capital can lead to organizational and logistical problems. Given these challenges, the project decided it was safer to bring people from the regions to the capital rather than trying to export activities from the capital to the regions.
Project Partner
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The context of the project was the period of intense political activity and instability in Egypt following the 2011 revolution. Within a highly volatile environment that included repression of civil society organisations and democracy advocates, the project gave special emphasis to training in the use of social media to stimulate citizen journalism and free exchange of thoughts. Overall the project was relevant in view of the focus on youth which was well supported by baseline assessments that identified low youth participation in democratic processes. It was also important in view of the overall political environment leading up to elections during the time of the project implementation. The focus on social media was also relevant and effective given the role it had played as a catalyst of the Arab Spring.
Evaluation Date
April 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt

Because of strong and inclusive design and effective facilitation, at the workshop level, even groups comprised of very diverse and sometimes deeply opposed political interests were able to learn and work together. This project demonstrated that in Egypt a politically inclusive approach at the grass-roots level can succeed.
Project Partner
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The context of the project was the period of intense political activity and instability in Egypt following the 2011 revolution. Within a highly volatile environment that included repression of civil society organisations and democracy advocates, the project gave special emphasis to training in the use of social media to stimulate citizen journalism and free exchange of thoughts. Overall the project was relevant in view of the focus on youth which was well supported by baseline assessments that identified low youth participation in democratic processes. It was also important in view of the overall political environment leading up to elections during the time of the project implementation. The focus on social media was also relevant and effective given the role it had played as a catalyst of the Arab Spring.
Evaluation Date
April 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt

While the grantee provided some data on impact at the individual level, such as greater likelihood of voting and adherence to a political party, no information was provided on how these were arrived at. The grantee could have invested effort in trying to devise individual-level indicators of impact, both qualitative and quantitative, that it can apply in future work.
Project Partner
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The context of the project was the period of intense political activity and instability in Egypt following the 2011 revolution. Within a highly volatile environment that included repression of civil society organisations and democracy advocates, the project gave special emphasis to training in the use of social media to stimulate citizen journalism and free exchange of thoughts. Overall the project was relevant in view of the focus on youth which was well supported by baseline assessments that identified low youth participation in democratic processes. It was also important in view of the overall political environment leading up to elections during the time of the project implementation. The focus on social media was also relevant and effective given the role it had played as a catalyst of the Arab Spring.
Evaluation Date
April 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt

Despite the emphasis on social media and development of trainees’ ICT skills, there was no strong evidence that project beneficiaries stayed in contact or used the ICT skills required to engage in robust advocacy campaigns as per the project's goals. More attention should have been paid to promoting post-workshop networks.
Project Partner
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The context of the project was the period of intense political activity and instability in Egypt following the 2011 revolution. Within a highly volatile environment that included repression of civil society organisations and democracy advocates, the project gave special emphasis to training in the use of social media to stimulate citizen journalism and free exchange of thoughts. Overall the project was relevant in view of the focus on youth which was well supported by baseline assessments that identified low youth participation in democratic processes. It was also important in view of the overall political environment leading up to elections during the time of the project implementation. The focus on social media was also relevant and effective given the role it had played as a catalyst of the Arab Spring.
Evaluation Date
April 2013
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Enlarging the Social Base for Democracy and the Rule of Law in Egypt

While social media can leverage democratization efforts, they cannot substitute for the legal and constitutional work, watchdog monitoring, and other nuts-and-bolts activities that make civil society a catalyst for democracy.
Project Partner
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
Project Description
The context of the project was the period of intense political activity and instability in Egypt following the 2011 revolution. Within a highly volatile environment that included repression of civil society organisations and democracy advocates, the project gave special emphasis to training in the use of social media to stimulate citizen journalism and free exchange of thoughts. Overall the project was relevant in view of the focus on youth which was well supported by baseline assessments that identified low youth participation in democratic processes. It was also important in view of the overall political environment leading up to elections during the time of the project implementation. The focus on social media was also relevant and effective given the role it had played as a catalyst of the Arab Spring.
Evaluation Date
April 2013
Theme
Country