The Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) Learning Agenda assesses the effectiveness of various interventions aimed at promoting democracy, human rights, and good governance. Completed impact evaluations have generated rigorous evidence about the effects of these interventions on development outcomes.
In Haiti, legal aid provided to detainees shortened the time spent in prison. Recipients of legal assistance were more likely to be liberated from prisons within eight months. Additionally, recipients inside and outside prisons were well aware of the program’s services over three months after the program ended. The program’s convenience, anonymity, continuous engagement, and focus on local issues encouraged citizen engagement.
In Uganda, an SMS-based tool called U-Bridge encouraged civic engagement. Men, younger users, and politically engaged individuals with secondary education, previous phone use, and strong social networks were more likely to participate. Government officials were interested in maintaining the U-Bridge system. However, the U-Bridge system did not have an effect on service delivery.
In Zimbabwe, training programs for traditional leaders improved governance when community leaders were included. Training traditional leaders alone had little effect on traditional governance and conflict reduction. However, training traditional leaders along with other community leaders improved governance, yet had minimal impact on conflict, and more open governance appeared to increase awareness of divisions within villages.
In Mozambique, text messaging increased voter turnout and participation. People who received an SMS were more likely to vote and send messages with political content. Variations on SMS’s messaging, such as identifying the sender as similar to the recipient, were no more effective than plain informational messages.
In South Africa, demand-and supply-side approaches did not increase care center utilization. Community dialogues had no impact on utilization or community members’ knowledge of care centers and attitudes toward sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). Service provider training had no impact on utilization, but it improved service providers’ knowledge and attitudes, and made them more likely to refer survivors to care centers. The impact evaluation recommended a train-the-trainer approach to community dialogues to allow for broader programmatic reach, and formal SGBV training for police and other professionals in the care system.
Overall, the impact evaluations have provided valuable insights into the effectiveness of various interventions aimed at promoting democracy, human rights, and good governance. The findings suggest that certain approaches, such as training traditional leaders and using SMS-based tools, can be effective in promoting civic engagement and improving governance. However, other approaches, such as community dialogues and service provider training, may not have a significant impact on utilization or community members’ knowledge and attitudes.