Abstract
Policy, Advocacy, and Civil Society Development in Georgia (G-PAC) is a four-year $13.3 million initiative funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to strengthen civil society's role in advocating for and influencing the development and effective implementation of public policy reforms in Georgia, and is beomg implemented by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI). G-PAC provides support to civil society organizations (CSOs) and think tanks (TTs) by providing them with comprehensive technical assistance and grants to pursue and address the most pressing issues in Georgia such as healthcare, education, environmental sustainability, unemployment, children's rights, elections, and property rights. The purposes of this mid-term performance evaluation are to: (1) analyze the progress of the G-PAC program towards achieving results in the project's objectives; (2) offer recommendations for continued project implementation; and (3) provide feedback to stakeholders involved in civil society advocacy activities in Georgia, USAID/Georgia, and other organizations. The evalution's major findings include: (1) G-PAC's interventions to strengthen advocacy and watchdog roles of targeted Tbilisi-based and regional CSOs are effective, with some interventions better than others; (2) CSO networks supported under the program are proving to be effective in terms of conducting successful advocacy campaigns, but are less effective in terms of internal management and having clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations of their members; (3) program interventions to strengthen the research capacity of targeted TTs are demonstrating some effectiveness and achieving positive results, but working with TTs remains challenging; (4) there are major challenges facing the newly established Master's in Public Administration program at Ilia State University; and (5) G-PAC's Enabling Environment Initiative is contributing to the financial sustainability of CSOs and TTs but at a very gradual pace. The evaluation also provides conclusions and recommendations for each of the above findings. (Excerpt, modified)