Projects

Since its inception in 2001 CSL has helped missions and bureaus to implement programs that have greatly strengthened civil society. A complete list of projects follows.

LEADER AWARD ACTIVITIES - Ongoing

Name: Arab Civitas
Duration: 7/31/03 -  6/30/08
Country/Region: MEPI: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia,  Yemen
Partner(s): Center for Civic Education (CCE)

1) To develop and implement a civic education curriculum in Arab countries by translating and adapting Project Citizen and other curricular materials, and developing indigenous materials in civic education. 
2) To create and build the capacity of an Arab Civic Education Network through leadership and networking training.


Name: Civic Education Program for Pakistan and Bangladesh
Duration: 7/15/04 - 6/30/07
Partner(s): Center for Civic Education (CCE)

1) To implement the Project Citizen civic education program in Pakistan and Bangladesh
2) To stregthen local educational leaders' capacity  to create, implement, and sustain effective civic education programs in their schools
3) To expand the network of Asian institutions and individuals committed to civic education and civil society strengthening.


Name: Cross-Sectoral Youth Program
Duration: 8/1/06 - 9/30/08
Country/Region: India, Morocco, DRC
Partner(s): Education Development Center (EDC)

Through a series of coordinated technical assistance interventions and an ongoing learning framework linked to CSYP demonstration sites in three countries, we will help USAID's Cross-Sectoral Youth Working Group achieve its three central objectives to:

(i) Assist  USAID field Missions in identifying opportunities for innovative, synergistic, cross-sectoral, youth-oriented programs;
(ii) Provide  catalytic technical assistance to USAID Missions in the design, management, and assessment of specific activities that can advance such programming; and,
(iii) Advance future efforts in implementing cross-sectoral youth programming through documentation of successes and lessons learned. 

Capacity building of partner institutions will result in increased institutional and financial viability of civil society organizations. In particular the focus on developing longer term public private alliances for the CSYP partner institutions will contribute to the achievement of this objective.


Name: Global Technical Assistance Program to Promote Innovative NGO Law Reform Worldwide (GTAP)
Duration: 2/1/05 - 9/30/08
Country/Region: Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey
Partner(s): International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL)

In many countries, the legal framework impedes NGO development and prevents NGOs from addressing key social and economic issues and thereby contributing to their country’s development.  The GTAP program addresses these problems by supporting and disseminating innovative NGO law reform practices. GTAP has three components: country-specific assistance to support NGO law reform efforts in Mexico and South Africa, a Global Summit on Civil Society Law to be held in Turkey, and a Global Justice rapid response ability to comment on draft NGO laws worldwide.  It also has a global fellowship program to strengthen local actors to analyze existing NGO laws in their countries in a best practices approach.

Name: Community Radio Sustainability Guide
Duration: 3/6/08 - 9/9/08
Country/Region: Global
Partner(s): Internews Network

Internews will produce a “Sustainability Guide for Community Media.” Document.  • Community Media Bibliography:  Internews will compile a comprehensive bibliography of resource materials concerning sustainability of community media.  This bibliography will include ‘hotlinks’ to publications available on-line, allowing the reader easy access to the documents.  This will also be available online.

Name: Sudan/Ethiopia Cross-Border Support to Restoration of Community Stability
Duration: 7/1/05 - 9/08/08

1) To establish the foundations for a more stable, and economically productive Sudan-Ethiopia border region.  2) To enhance trade and livelihoods security (including community driven frameworks for land and natural resource management) 3) To enhance access to, and equity and sustainability of basic services (in particular water). 4) To improve stability and increased capacities for conflict mitigation around the border. 5) To reinforce positive intergovernmental relations pertaining to the border areas, as they emerge.

ASSOCIATE AWARDS - Ongoing

Name: Regional NGO Law Rapid Response Mechanism
Duration: 9/20/06 - 9/20/08
Country/Region: Eastern Europe / Eurasia
Partner(s): ICNL

ICNL will maintain databases of laws and policies regulating or restricting NGO operations in the region, and will provide best practices input and review of draft laws to both governments and NGOs on an as-directed basis in consultation with the regional USAID officials and individual Missions.


Name: Media Development in Afghanistan
Duration: 8/1/06-7/31/09
Partner(s): Internews Network

Objective 1. Essential news and information is produced by Afghan journalists and broadcast production teams, and is distributed via existing Afghan-operated radio stations on both a local and national level. 
Objective 2. Independent media develop stronger management, administrative, and financial management capacity – either as businesses or as community/nonprofit organizations, to support editorial independence and market sustainability. 
Objective 3. Professional standards in journalism exist and are used by journalists and media outlets; these standards conform to broadly accepted international norms; journalists and media producers have opportunities to gain and increase knowledge and skills. 
Objective 4. Media, media development NGOs, and interested implementing partners provide access and production expertise for media advocacy to support key aspects of USAID-supported reform efforts such as governmental transparency and accountability, and anti-corruption.

Name: Civic Advocacy for Tajikistan
Duration: November 2007 - October 2008
Donor: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Partner(s): Internews Network

Tajikistan represents a country of both great hope and great frustration.  The peaceful resolution of the country’s internecine civil war in 1997 has been hailed as a model by many observers – of peaceful power-sharing among political, religious and ideological rivals, of successful “track-two” diplomacy, and of international cooperation.  As the country celebrates ten years of peace, however, many early hopes for political reform and conciliatory democracy have not come to pass.  An increasingly authoritarian government, a population reluctant to “rock the boat” for fear of destabilization, and a political opposition decimated through attrition, co-optation and suppression, have combined to seriously impact Tajikistan’s democratization.  This one-year pilot project will facilitate the emergence of a more active citizenry that can effectively promote critical democratic reforms in the Tajik Republic through citizen engagement, expanded access to objective information, and analytical policy debate.

To achieve this goal, the project will:  support national advocacy campaigns by Tajik civil society organizations and coalitions that support real governance reforms; improve capacity of Tajik civil society organizations to conceptualize, launch and implement nationwide policy-driven advocacy campaigns; increase public activism, expressed in new opportunities for citizens to articulate and advocate positions on critical policy reform issues.

In order to achieve these objectives, the CAT project is organized in two phases. The first will lay the groundwork for advocacy issue selection and open the lines of communication between government and civil society. The second will support concrete pilot efforts at national advocacy campaigns, allowing civil society to engage with citizens at large and political leaders in support of participatory, consensus-driven governance reforms.


Name: Independent Media Program in West Bank and Gaza
Duration: 9/29/06 - 9/28/08
Partner(s): Internews Network

Internews will conduct a program focusing on strengthening the independent media components, training journalists, and establishing more professional and locally-focused radio reporting, in close consultation with the USAID Mission.

Name: Central Asia NGO and Media Legal Framework Program
Duration: 11/16/06-11/15/09
Partner(s): Internews Network and ICNL

The Program Goal is to improve the regulatory and legal enabling environment for NGOs and media in Central Asia. 

Program Objectives will be:
For NGOs:
Objective 1.1: Support the development of enabling NGO legislation;
Objective 1.2: Increase the capacity of lawyers to assist NGOs;
Objective 1.3: Promote public discussion of legal and policy issues relating to civil society and NGOs;

For Media:
Objective 2.1:  Improve the legal and regulatory framework for media;
Objective 2.2:  Increase the capacity of media to operate under restrictive laws;
Objective 2.3:  Improve access to and stimulate public discussion of media law information and issues


Name: Promoting Democratization and Stability in Post-Election Ethiopia
Duration: 9/30/05 - 3/31/08

Pact will provide advisory, technical assistance and possible small grants over a period of 30 months to implement activities that will be defined in close consultation with USAID and the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa.  Activities will be designed to provide support to Ethiopian Government and civil society organizations.  Activities may be combined in groups or packages to maximize impact.  They will also be defined to establish concrete links with other USAID and donor funded activities.
 

Name: Kenya Civil Society Strengthening Program
Duration: 9/18/06 - 9/17/09

Pact will oversee a program providing capacity building through a variety of grant-making mechanisms and technical assistance in both the DG and NRM sectors.


Name: Last Mile Initiative
Duration: 9/29/06 - 9/29/08
Country/Region: Madagascar

The goal of MLMI is to assist CSOs in rural areas to access and share information essential for local governance and development planning. Pact Madagascar will establish at least two CICs to pilot and test technical models for sustaining access to telecommunication services in rural areas. In addition, the program will provide sustainable business models for cooperatives, telecenters and “Internet Cafés”, which will have the potential to become powerful community centers in remote regions.

Name: Upper Nile Early Warning Posts (OTI)
Duration: 4/30/07 - 9/30/08
Country/Region: Sudan

The project aims to enhance local security in the Upper Nile region by increasing presence in border areas of local officials and early warning posts for ethnic violence; building on existing disarmament programs to strengthen them; creating local engagement and dialogue mechanisms for conflict mediation during the dry season; and building the capacity of communities to engage with courts, local government, law enforcement, and other legitimate security and order organizations.

Name: Building Organization Networks for Good Governance and Advocacy (BONGA)
Duration: 9/30/05-9/29/09
Country/Region: Tanzania

To develop the institutional capacity of civil society organizations and citizen groups; to provide a strong basis for advocacy activities through strategic targeting, partnerships, community mobilization, and other tools; and to strengthen CSO networks and linkages, with a particular focus on partnerships with local government offices for accountability purposes.

Name: Organizational Development Support (ODS) program in Western NIS
Duration: 9/30/05 - 9/30/08
Country/Region: Ukraine
Partner(s): NDI, ICNL, Internews, ACILS & RTI

To support organizational development in the Newly Indepenent States. 


Name: Accountability through Civil Society and Watchdog Institutions (AWATCH)
Duration: 9/10/04 - 6/30/07
Country/Region: Zambia

1) To strengthen the independence and effectiveness of the National Assembly as a key instrument of oversight, reform, accountability, and transparency.
2) To equip the National Assembly to conduct oversight of government fiscal management and develop tools for combating corruption.
3) To provide subgrants and technical assistance to local civil society organizations addressing HIV-related democracy and governance issues, such as stigma and discrimination.

Archived Projects

Zambia: Increased Public Debate (IPD)

The Increased Public Debate program promotes public debate on issues essential to democratic reform, with the longer-term objective of strengthening pluralistic dialogue and citizen influence on public policy. Targeting Zambian media, membership organizations (unions and church-based NGOs), professional associations, and critical government departments, Pact has helped key advocacy CSOs earn a seat at the policy table on critical reform topics. Working largely through small grants, Pact trains these CSOs to conduct policy research, poll their members, analyze policy issues, develop positions, conduct media campaigns, lead sensitive public debates, build coalitions, and carry out all aspects of an effective advocacy campaign. Two additional activities have been incorporated into the program: Parliamentary Reform Phase II (PRP) and the Anti-Corruption Initiative (ACI). Under PRP II, Pact will facilitate the Zambian Parliament's implementation of the plan for reform that it devised in Phase I, while under the ACI Pact will oversee and coordinate the Parliament's anti-corruption activities.

Key results

• Media law reform. Pact's partner NGO, ZIMA, led lobbying and public debate that resulted in the parliament ending ten years of delay on enacting media reform and passing two laws that will give greater protection to the independence of the media and will create a new media regulatory body in line with that proposed by ZIMA and its constituents.
• Parliamentary reform. The Parliamentary Reforms and Modernization Committee (PRMC) recently passed a unanimous resolution to press for Constitutional amendments to establish the Parliamentary Service Commission and to amend the Standing Orders, which govern the running of the National Assembly and outline the powers of the Speaker and the Members of Parliament.
• Creation of a new anti-corruption body. Under the new Anti-Corruption Initative (ACI), Members of Parliament established a Zambia chapter of the African Parliamentary Network against Corruption (APNAC) and developed a local charter.
• First annual CSO-Parliament meeting. The first annual meeting between the National Assembly and civil society organizations (CSOs) brought together 21 chairpersons of Parliamentary Committees and 20 CSO representatives under the theme "Connecting Parliament to Civil Society Organizations."
• Pressure for openness and transparency in constitutional reform. National conventions hosted by the OASIS Forum, a Pact-supported Zambian advocacy consortium, generated public consensus and strong pressure on the government to amend the constitution via a constituent assembly, rather than a closed process.

For more information on the IPD program, click here.

Madagascar: Linking Actors for Regional Opportunities (LARO) Program

The vast majority of Madagascar's population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood, causing environmental degradation that threatens not only biological diversity but also the watershed and soil stability vital to an agrarian economy. The LARO program addresses Madagascar's severe environmental crisis and agrarian poverty through a public-private alliance between USAID/Madagascar and the multinational mining conglomerate Rio Tinto/QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM). The programs focuses on the participatory identification of local development and conservation priorities, the creation of a regional development framework, the selection of environmentally and economically sound activities within the framework, and technical assistance in the management of those activities.

Key Results

• Anosy Regional Development Framework. The 130-member General Assembly of the Regional Development Committee for the Anosy region has developed and approved the Regional Development Framework, facilitating the rapid and appropriate implementation of various projects. The national government already views the Framework as a model and reference tool for other regions.
• Fort Dauphin Urban Development Plan. The city of Fort Dauphin has created an Urban Development Plan that is integrated into the Regional Development Framework. The Plan has already leveraged the interest and support of other donors, including the World Bank, which selected the city as a priority "growth pole" for its IG2P project.
• Communal development plans. Communities have established Communal Development Plans that align with the Regional Development Framework and promote environmental sustainability.
• Conservation site. Working toward the designation of the Ambatotsirongorongo forest as a conservation site, the LARO team has carried out various biodiversity diagnostic studies, has sensitized local communities to the need to protect this threatened habitat, and has facilitated the development and preliminary implementation of a concerted site management plan.
  

Tanzania Advocacy Partnership Program (TAPP)

Consortium partners: International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) and the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)

The Tanzanian Advocacy Partnership Program (TAPP) strengthens the capacity of civil society organizations (CSOs) to articulate and represent public interests to the Government of Tanzania on the civil society legal framework as well as selected health, environment, and private-sector policy issues, while fostering an enabling environment for CSO-government partnership. TAPP works closely with national and local advocacy organizations and networks to build an indigenous cadre of master trainers and capacity builders, who train and mentor other CSOs in organizational and financial management, networking, coalition-building, and the essentials of effective advocacy campaigns. The program supports proactive and sustained civil society advocacy through a combination of customized technical assistance, training, mentoring, and grants.

Key Results

• Organizational Capacity Assessment (OCA). Pact has developed three distinct organizational capacity assessment (OCA) tools for advocacy NGOs, environmental CSOs, and faith-based health facilities. Assessments and reassessments have been conducted with 40 community organizations and fifteen business associations. Seventy Tanzanian consultants have been trained in the OCA facilitation process.
• Training and technical assistance. Pact has conducted 56 capacity building events for more than 1,500 participants, including 17 workshops, 24 strategic planning seminars, and 15 other gatherings.
• Advocacy subgrants. Pact has disbursed six subgrants totaling over $250,000 to local organizations for advocacy activities, including the first-ever lobbying campaign on legislation affecting the enabling environment, implemented by a network of NGOs.
• Legislative Roadmap. Pact has published 15,000 copies of the Legislative Roadmap, a two-volume civic education manual, explaining the functions of the branches of government, the lawmaking process, the budgeting process, and the role of civil society in influencing policy. USAID rated the Legislative Roadmap one of its top success stories in Africa for 2004.
• Media campaign. In an effort to improve NGO credibility and the enabling environment for NGOs in Tanzania, Pact is conducting a media campaign that works with journalists and various media outlets to report on CSO success stories. CSOs also receive training and resources to facilitate better sharing of their stories.