In focus post

Evaluating how civic technology can drive democratic initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa

This project is particularly appealing to PIL because of its focus on boosting citizen voices, particularly those of underrepresented groups, within decision-making processes.

As 2024 wraps up, PIL is closing out an exciting and challenging project that kicked off at the start of the year—evaluating how civic technology can drive democratic initiatives across sub-Saharan Africa. This project brought together a dynamic team: PIL’s Ieva Giedraityte, Lara Bezzina and Elma Paulauskaite who partnered with Florence Nyangara and Reuben O. Marwanga from PIMA Consulting in Kenya. We were thrilled to be commissioned by the European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) to deliver both a Pre-Final Assessment and a Final Evaluation of their ambitious Charter Project Africa (CPA).

The project itself, a collaboration among six organizations (EPD, ECDPM, Democracy Works Foundation, Gorée Institute, Code for Africa, and AfricTivistes), had a bold mission: to strengthen democracy in 11 African Union (AU) Member States—including Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa—while promoting the use of civic-tech to empower citizens with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.

What set this assignment apart was its unique two-phase approach and its focus on a new thematic area for us. We kicked off with a Pre-Final Assessment in January-February 2024, a full six months before the project wrapped up, and followed up with the Final Evaluation in August as the project was winding down. This required us to work closely with the client to ensure clarity at each stage and to make sure that the data from the Pre-Final Assessment fed seamlessly into the Final Evaluation. We're also proud to be incorporating EPD's innovative approach to evaluating democracy support, moving beyond traditional OECD criteria to assess impact on micro (stakeholders), meso (political institutions), and macro (regional institutions) levels.

Moreover, this project has allowed us to delve deeper into the intersection of civic-tech and democracy promotion in Africa—a topic that’s new for us, but incredibly rewarding. We’re especially excited about its focus on amplifying citizen voices, particularly those from underrepresented groups, in shaping decisions that affect their lives.

Looking forward to more projects like this that push boundaries and help create meaningful change!