I evaluate human rights projects and programmes.  An example is the evaluation I carried out of the Human Rights Defenders Programme of FORUM-ASIA, a network of 46 human rights organizations across Asia, in June 2009. Research was done by means of a questionnaire survey of member organizations, telephone interviews, and by visiting Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta to interview FORUM-ASIA staff, representatives of member organizations and other relevant stakeholders. The evaluation assessed the level and effectiveness of programme activities in the areas of protection of human rights defenders, advocacy and campaigning, and training. Management issues and the position of the programme in the wider Asian context were also evaluated. Recommendations were made to both FORUM-ASIA and its donor, Hivos. I carried the evaluation out on my own. FORUM-ASIA was very content with my input.

Another example is the ten-day mission to Kyrgyzstan i carried out in September 2008 to evaluate the local organization Citizens Against Corruption.  The evaluation focused on the organization's sustainability, its links with its constituency, and the impact of the organization's programme. It resulted in recommendations for improvement in all these areas. The work involved interviewing key stakeholders, such as staff of the organization, target groups, and representatives of government and other relevant institutions. I was the team leader and worked with an Uzbek co-evaluator.

For Amnesty International, I assessed the European Union's implementation of the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.  For this, I interviewed dozens of diplomats and human rights defenders in Guatemala, Ethiopia, Russia, Tunisia and Turkey.  This research resulted in two reports.  The first report, entitled Ensuring protection? The European Union and human rights defenders, was published in May 2007.  The second report, entitled European Union: Rising to the Challenge of Protecting Human Rights Defenders, was published in June 2008.  These reports contained recommendations to the EU and its member states to address the weaknesses identified during the assessment.

 

 

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