Interim Progress Report
April-Sep. 2006

 Majid Mohammadi
IPF fellow, 2006-2007

First I have almost finished reviewing the literature on evaluating judicial reform projects in general and specifically projects funded by international donors in Turkey and Egypt. I came across some interesting materials posted on the net by some donors like CIDA and USAID, good on paper but not in action.

 
I did some reading on the background of judicial reform in Turkey and Egypt that is not over yet. I am in the middle of writing a research paper to review these materials and add my own thoughts to what is said and what have been written.

 
I attended a one week training program in DC in May to learn more about project management and evaluation that was very helpful to me to have a bigger picture of the world of donors and their way of work and the field of directing and evaluating projects.

 
I finished gathering basic information on judicial reform projects sponsored by the international aid agencies (sponsors, partners, projects, budget, duration and goals) in August and organized the material in September. These materials are now posted on my website. In this document other than raw information and categorization of what I got from donors’ websites and program officers in interviews, I have an analytical and explanatory introduction that explains the functions of aid agencies, their differences and specific agendas. They are also compared to each other with respect to emphasis, working region and policies. 

 
I talked to program officers and managers in aid agencies (Middle East desks) about how they select and evaluate their projects and now I am talking to people from Turkey and Egypt to know their point of view on these projects. Other than this, I have been talking to scholars who have worked on judicial reform focusing on the Middle East. I have been talking to some expert in the region on the phone to give me a sense of what questions should I ask when I will be in Turkey and Egypt.

 
I will have two or three trips to the region in Nov. and Dec. 2006 and Jan. 2007 to talk to people on the ground and discuss my set of questions (included in my issue paper) with stakeholders. I had a trip to DC to talk to some people in aid agencies. I also had a trip to New York City this month to talk to two Turkish activists about their views on accession process and reform projects in Turkey. I may have a trip to Canada to talk to people in CIDA and some other trips to DC to see more Experts on this issue.

 
I am also in the middle of my policy paper and I will post its first draft in early October. I have drafted some of my initial ideas and recommendations based on interviews with program managers and program officers, legal scholars and some of the legal and political activists.

 
My website is up and running and I have been updated it every month. I am also planning to be in Istanbul for training program in November.

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