Description
Human rights advocacy faces serious challenges in Lithuania. Civil society lacks knowledge and tools for effective representation of vulnerable groups. The project aims to develop women's rights advocacy skills and competences of Lithuanian NGOs. It seeks to strengthen civil society's influence on legislative initiatives in order to improve the quality of democracy. One of the core activities is preparing and presenting an alternative report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This will be partially guided by the results of 4 regional focus groups. Awareness raising campaigns and advocacy events will be organised throughout the project, promoting non-discrimination and CEDAW recommendations as an advocacy tool. The Norwegian project partner KUN Centre for Gender Equality will contribute its know-how in the field of women's rights. It will assist in organising and take part in the Norwegian-Baltic NGO forum in Vilnius. Target groups – politicians, media, NGOs working with gender issues, women and society at large. Indirect beneficiaries – politicians directly and indirectly dealing with gender issues.
Summary of project results
Civic participation is one of the core components of democracy while the involvement of women and implementation of their rights are one of the most significant indicators in this area. That is why mechanisms for monitoring of CEDAW convention implemenation were developed and are being used to help increasing civic participation in the decision making processes. Nevertheless these intruments are rarely used in Lithuania. Human rights advocacy faces serious challenges as the civil society organizations often lack knowledge and tools for effective representation of women and other vulnerable groups. NGOs are more often seen in the ociety as providers of cheap services and are forced to compete for very limited resources, thus impeding the process of their consolidation and diminishing chances of being heard by state institutions and businesses. The project aimed to develop women's and human rights NGOs' advocacy skills and competences. It sought to strengthen civil society's influence on legislative and political initiatives in order to improve the quality of democracy. One of the core activities of the project was preparing and presenting an alternative report to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). This was partially guided by the results of four regional focus groups. Awareness raising campaigns and advocacy events were organised throughout the project, promoting non-discrimination and CEDAW recommendations as an advocacy tool. The main beneficiaries of the project were representatives of the civil society, politicians, women, media and public at large.
Summary of bilateral results
The donor project partner KUN Center for Gender Equality (Norway) contributed its know-how and many years of experience in the field of women's rights. It assisted in organising and took part in the Norwegian-Baltic NGO forum in Vilnius. However, from the organizational point of view the partnership didn't go smoothly as the Norwegian partner failed to demonstrate genuine involvement in the activities of the project and worked more like a paid service provider than a partner. The partnership did not have any significant contribution towards the project outcomes or wider effects. Therefore it could be stated that project funds earmarked for bilateral cooperation did not strengthen bilateral relations with Norwegian partner.