Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

Importance of sequencing: Activities within the project design need to be sequenced adequately. For example at country level, there was a need to first take stock (qualitative studies), advocate for support, create awareness etc. Only then, when you are certain that the key implementers are aware and fully understand the principles of the Protocol (2014 International Labor Organization Protocol and Recommendations on Forced Labor), can you begin working on collecting data and designing the livelihoods element of the project.

Learning Description

The sole source award, where by the project is awarded on the basis of key common agreed goals (in this case the intermediate objectives), and then developed in conjunction with the staff that will be implementing the project, the donor, and the national counterparts is seen as a good practices which strengthens relevance and ownership of the process while ensuring thematic coherence.

Learning Description

The work undertaken with peace judges is a good practice and an innovative mechanism of ensuring wider reach at ground level. While peace judges are not per se judges, they are the de facto administers of justice in remote regions of Peru. Further strengthening this practice was reaching approval of the "Directive” for intervention and the role of peace judges on forced labor, based on the technical assistance provided to the Judiciary through the National Office of Justice of Peace (ONAJUP). The aforementioned standard establishes rules and criteria that regulate the performance of peace judges in cases allegedly related to forced labor, guiding their actions at different levels such as awareness raising, prevention, and coordination with other authorities of the ordinary justice system and of their special jurisdiction.

Learning Description

Creation of spaces for dialogue: One particularly successful experience was the event organized on March on 6, 2017 in Kaiffa, Mauritania, together with the Association of Mayors in celebration the first national day against slavery. This event brought together a wide range of stakeholders that don’t often have the opportunity to interact. This was highlighted as a useful and appreciated experience by almost every stakeholder interviewed. It opened up a space for dialogue and exchange of both perspectives and challenges. Often highlighted was the intervention of the judge of the special court, who helped others realize the challenges faced by the special court which has inadequate resources to perform its intended functions. This event was further strengthened by a public awareness-rising event held the previous evening.

Learning Description

The project’s leadership (project director and deputy director) are based in Honduras. The project does not have a leadership position based in El Salvador that means when there is a key event the project director or deputy director must travel to El Salvador, which is not always possible. In addition, the project does not have a leadership position to interact with its two partners in El Salvador. The lesson for future projects that are implemented in two countries is that the leadership positions should be split between the countries.

Learning Description

On several occasions the project started to operate in areas under heavy gang control, which made it difficult if not impossible for youth from outside the area to enter and participate in YouthBuilder activities. The lesson is that, if possible, the project should select neutral areas where youth from different neighborhoods can attend project activities without being threatened.

Learning Description

The development of the project's Comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (CMEP) was a long and complicated process that took approximately one year. According to USDOL policy, a project cannot begin providing direct services to project participants until the project has collected baseline survey data in project areas. For this project, USDOL and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) agreed to conduct a longitudinal study of project participants beginning with a baseline survey of enrolled participants, with periodic follow-up surveys throughout the life of the project. The process of agreeing on the design of the longitudinal study, hiring a contractor to carry out the study, and creating and finalizing the baseline survey forms meant that direct services began nearly one year after the project was funded.

Learning Description

Youth Pathways - Central America (YPCA) hired consultants to conduct labor market surveys in both Honduras and El Salvador. While the survey reports contain some useful information, the findings and recommendations are, for the most part, broad and do not reflect labor market conditions in and around the neighborhoods where the project’s training centers are located.

Learning Description

The project has had difficulty keeping volunteers for the Career Connect Clubs. While some of the university students have dropped out of the clubs due to security concerns, the majority leave because they find jobs or other opportunities.

Learning Description

The Career Connect Club coordinators reported strained relations with some teachers and noted that they were not supportive of the clubs and were not referring students. Apparently, some teachers who did not understand the objectives of the clubs and viewed them as competition.