Under the DG Analytical Services IQC, Democracy International conducted an evaluation of USAID’s Civil Society Strengthening Program (CSSP)in Kosovo to provide the Mission with a comprehensive analysis of the quality and impact of the program and to offer recommendations for future programming in this sector. DI fielded a team to conduct this assessment from October to December 2010.

DI’s team evaluated activities implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC) from interviews conducted during a three-week stay in October 2010 and from available documents and published reports.

DI’s team found that ISC works well with grantees, but the current project structure of small, short-term grants is not the best strategy for achieving the project’s goals and is no longer appropriate for USAID because Kosovo’s civil society is maturing and requires a more substantive and powerful kind of civil society activism. Based on these findings, DI recommends that USAID adopt a strategy that addresses the need for a limited number of strong, constituency-based CSOs to emerge around key national issues.

Photo Credit: Andrew Halterman