Benin Citizens’ Dialogue 2 project evaluation

Here we provide an overview of the results.

The Benin Citizens’ Dialogue 2 project received €500,000 of co funding from the German Corporation for International Cooperation development agency (GIZ) as well as €200,000 of CFI’s own funds. It was part of the Programme to Support Decentralisation and Communal Development (PDDC) which was set up by GIZ.
DFollowing on from the initial Benin Citizens’ Dialogues project that was also run by CFI, the aim of this second project was to contribute to good democratic governance of Benin by means of getting citizens to play an active role in defining, implementing and monitoring public policy.
With this in mind, the project’s approach was based on a specific objective aimed at improving the quality of discussions concerning issues of accountability and citizen-led control of public initiatives, by increasing the quality of the media output and establishing a dialogue with the various stakeholders at local level.

This involved three operational aspects, reflected in three outcomes:
- A more dynamic consultation process between media organisations, civil society organisations (CSOs) and town halls on issues relating to citizen-led control of public initiatives and accountability.
- Consolidated capacities of media organisations in dealing with issues relating to accountability and citizen-led control of public initiatives.
- Enhanced governance and economic viability of media organisations, so that they can fulfil their mission of serving the public.

The outcomes and objectives achieved

At the end of the financial year, it would appear that the project has done what it set out to achieve despite being a short-term project beset by problems. Most of its activities were carried out and the outcomes and objectives have been achieved.
The Benin Citizens’ Dialogue 2 project is characterised by the quality of the training it provides and by its relevance to the legal and institutional framework, to the fields of intervention of the development cooperation, and to the real needs of those affected in the municipalities and each radio station’s specific situation.

Improvement of the media organisations’ financial position and credibility

The chain of outcomes and objectives is proven to be effective in that the simultaneous strengthening of the media organisations’ technical, methodological, organisational and management capacities is leading to more attention being paid by local stakeholders, partners and listeners. This in turn is improving the financial position of the media organisations and making them more credible as informative and communicative civil society actors. It is also leading to better discussions concerning issues of accountability.

An indeterminable scope

While it is clear to see how the project has helped to improve accountability and citizen-led control, it is difficult to determine its scope and how much of an influence it has had.

Inadequate coordination and consultation between local, national and international operators is the reason for this. In addition, the project has not been integrated properly within the PDDC and its monitoring and evaluation system is imprecise. Ultimately, the project’s primarily training-based approach meant that all the benefits resulting from stakeholder relationship management, partnership mediation and other skills transfer channels are not evident.

Consequently, although the project has proven to be effective, relevant and cohesive, several aspects such as the shortcomings of its monitoring and evaluation system, its partnership-based approach and a failure to effectively integrate the project and the skills it provides within communities nevertheless dampen the project’s effectiveness and make its contributions less sustainable.