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EWMI’s lasting impact across our mission areas is broad, from incubating local organizations to building justice institutions and establishing open data platforms. Below are just a few examples of the enduring legacy of EWMI’s work.

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Incubating local legacy organizations

Open Development Cambodia

Open Development Cambodia (ODC) started as a component of a EWMI project before becoming an independent NGO in 2015. The first open data platform in Southeast Asia, ODC provides the public with up-to-date, accurate information about Cambodia and its economic and social development. Its open data approach guarantees materials and information are available to all users for use and download.  It also actively promotes data literacy in Cambodia. Supported by many international donors, ODC is a thriving entity that continues to facilitate research and communication between the public, private companies, civil society and governments.

Vishnu Law Group (Cambodia)

Emerging out of EWMI’s groundbreaking Public Interest Legal Advocacy Project (PILAP) in Cambodia, which successfully represented 74 families in a high-profile land dispossession case, the Vishnu Law Group was founded as a public interest law firm in 2012. Today it remains the leading such firm in the country. With expertise in resolving a wide range of criminal, civil, and commercial disputes, Vishnu is also well known for its public interest work and pro bono services, technical assistance and legal cooperation projects with various branches of government, free legal representation/defense of clients in high profile cases relating to human rights land, freedom of expression, and environmental issues, and consultation to NGOs on a wide range of legal matters.

Advocacy Training and Resource Center (Kosovo)

In 2001, EWMI and its local partners in Kosovo established the Advocacy Training and Resource Center (ATRC), an operational resource and training center in Prishtina for civil society organizations. A quarter century later, ATRC remains a leading advocacy and resource center in the country. It has collaborated with over 500 civil society organizations and institutions; delivered capacity building to more than 1,000 individuals in areas such as financial management, internal control, ethics, and organizational development; administered more than 300 grants exceeding $10.25 million in total value and supported over 300 NGOs in establishing automated financial management systems.

Corporate Social Responsibility Club (Georgia)

In 2014, as part of its business outreach program, EWMI supported stronger linkages between CSOs and the private sector in Georgia to advance partnerships on public policy issues of shared interest and cultivate businesses as funding and support resources for CSOs to reduce their dependence on foreign donors. EWMI and its partner helped establish the Corporate Social Responsibility Club (CSR), bringing over 80 business and CSO representatives together to raise awareness about and promote CSR. EWMI also supported the establishment of the UN Global Compact (UNGC) Georgia Network introducing Georgian businesses to international standards in CSR and committing them to adhere to these standards. Georgian businesses also partnered with CSOs to integrate responsible business practices, such as enhancing gender equality within their companies, empowering women employees, and providing employment and capacity building opportunities to persons with disabilities. The Corporate Social Responsibility Club now comprises 186 members, who continue work on key areas such as education, gender equality, community development, and environmental sustainability.

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Rule of Law: Building justice institutions, improving the administration of justice, and supporting judicial reform

Constitutional Court of Kosovo

From 2008 to 2012, EWMI helped the Constitutional Court of Kosovo develop from an institution existing only on paper to arguably the most respected state institution in the country. Among the hallmarks of its success during this period, the Court avoided ethnic splits in its decision making and its judgments directly resulted in the resignation of two Presidents, a remarkable standard for the region. EWMI assistance to the Court encompassed all aspects of its operation, including its legislative framework, staffing, strategic planning, internal rules of procedure, dissemination of judgments and public outreach and professional training. EWMI also developed and installed a state-of-the-art case data management system at the Court to improve efficiency and reduce paperwork.  

Bosnian Legal Aid Offices

In 2004, when EWMI began its justice sector development work in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the only public legal aid office in the country was in the small municipality of Brcko, established by the international administrators that governed the town. The rest of the country used a costly system of legal aid based on court appointments of private attorneys. EWMI undertook a cost comparison study that showed that a system of public legal aid offices would cost less and be more predictable than the status quo, and then supported local champions who worked to remove legal barriers to such offices. Today, legal aid offices serve clients in the Republika Srpska and in 10 of the 12 Federation cantons, providing quality legal representation to indigent clients while saving hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in comparison to the cost of such representation under the previous system of exclusively ex officio court-appointed lawyers.  

Cambodia Criminal Court Database 

EWMI introduced a criminal case database at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court in 2012. It was based on the simple approach of digitizing the existing paper system. It was welcomed by the court and proved effective, helping to eliminate excessive pretrial detention at the court. In 2014, at the end of EWMI’s criminal justice work in Cambodia, UN OHCHR announced plans to expand the database to five additional courts. Ultimately, the database was introduced in all first instance courts in the country.

Case Processing Timeframes in Bosnia-Herzegovina

EWMI’s Justice Sector Development Project helped the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC) in Bosnia-Herzegovina establish a new system of optimal and predictable case processing timeframes before courts and prosecutors’ offices, aimed at eliminating delays in proceedings and consequently reducing case backlogs, as well as making court proceedings more transparent from the citizens’ perspective. The timeframes were formally adopted by the HJPC in 2014. More than a decade later, at least four of the ten Federation cantons are still using the timeframes.

Judicial Entrance Examinations in Bosnia-Herzegovina

Working closely with the HJPC in Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of the Justice Sector Development Project, EWMI helped establish a new system of written testing and structured interviews for candidates for judicial and prosecutorial posts. Formally adopted by the HJPC in 2014, the new system was a landmark achievement that had been the goal of reformers for many years. Still used by the HJPC to this day, the system provides an objective and transparent process of selection and appointment of judges and prosecutors.

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Promoting civic engagement and good governance

Kyrgyz Portal for Public Comments on Draft Legislation

In 2019, EWMI assisted the Kyrgyz Ministry of Justice to develop a unified online portal for the public discussion of draft legal acts to expand opportunities for civic engagement in the lawmaking process. The portal was aimed at making public discussions more effective and serving as an operative feedback mechanism by which civil society could submit comments to the initiators of draft normative legal acts. In 2020, EWMI completed the portal software and a mobile application and transferred it to the Ministry. Today the Unified Portal for Public Discussion of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts serves as the official platform for public discussion of draft laws submitted to parliament and draft regulatory acts of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Open Government Partnership Online Platform in North Macedonia

In 2021, EWMI assisted the Ministry of Information Society and Administration (MISA) in North Macedonia to create an online platform for the Open Government Partnership, to hear from citizens about which priorities and actions are most important to them. MISA used this new portal to create the country’s National Action Plan (NAP) 2021 – 2023 for the OGP, which advanced initiatives to increase government transparency, accountability, and inclusion. The OGP portal continues to be used today as a central point for consultation, monitoring, involvement, networking, and reporting by all stakeholders and interested parties in the OGP process. The OGP portal now serves as a platform for interaction and exchange of information in the preparation of NAPs, monitoring their implementation, and monitoring the work of the OGP Council and the OGP Network of Civil Organizations. The portal offers the possibility of holding online virtual meetings with live chat and video connection of the participants.

Civil Society Engagement in State Social Procurement in Kyrgyzstan

From 2013 to 2017, EWMI and its local partners supported the Kyrgyz Ministry of Labor and Social Development to develop a new State Social Procurement (SSP) system to create more effective service delivery for citizens. In May 2017, the President signed the new Law on SSP, which aimed to improve the country’s ability to solve socially important problems through a transparent, fair, accountable, and effective procurement system and engaging more CSOs in providing social services to citizens. In 2017, EWMI helped draft secondary legal acts broadening SSP, and its use expanded greatly from 2013 to 2019, when EWMI’s Collaborative Governance Program ended in Kyrgyzstan. As of 2025, the SSP system continues to be used by multiple ministries for their social procurement needs.

Sustainable Partnerships for Recognition and Empowerment of Youth

From 2016 to 2021, through an Annual Youth Civic Engagement Award (YCEA), EWMI and its local partners continuously recognized and supported the work of exemplary young men and women in North Macedonia, including informal youth groups and youth civil society organizations. The respective honorees addressed a wide spectrum of issues — from mental health, food waste, and COVID-19 response, to cross-border youth cooperation, gender equality in media, and animal welfare. YCEA not only celebrated the success of young people and showcased the importance of youth engagement in all spheres of society, but also provided grant support to the initiatives of honorees. In 2022, EWMI handed over the annual YCEA process to the Government’s Agency for Youth and Sports of North Macedonia and the National Youth Council. Today, the YCEA continues to recognize and support youth activists for their efforts.

Regulatory Impact Assessments in Montenegro

In 2011, EWMI helped institutionalize a new Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) regime in Montenegro for all new legislation. EWMI trained representatives of all ministries in RIA, helped establish a supervisory RIA Unit in the Ministry of Finance, developed a training manual, and provided hands-on training on RIAs for different ministries and agencies. EWMI guided ministerial and other officials through RIAs on business licensing regulations, illiquidity regulations, proposed legislation on late payments, and the social housing law, among others. By the end of 2024, according to the Public Administration Principles Assessment Report published by SIGMA, Montenegro recorded the best score in the Western Balkans for the indicator “use of evidence and impact assessment during policy making.” According to the report’s findings, RIA was conducted for 96% of draft laws adopted by the Government during 2023, while for secondary legislation, the percentage was 63%. The supervisory RIA Unit in the Ministry of Finance still plays a key role in overseeing RIA reports, using the manuals and guidelines developed by EWMI more than a decade ago.

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Our work