R4D Afghanistan

A critical review of community-driven development programmes in conflict-affected contexts. Technical Appendix.

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:21 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: King, E. A critical review of community-driven development programmes in conflict-affected contexts. Technical Appendix. International Rescue Committee (IRC), London, UK / Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (2013) 23 pp.

Summary: This appendix comprises the following:

A list of questions used to guide the research
Sample of reading instrument
Discussion guide for interviews
Synthesis tables containing impact estimates for Afghanistan, DRC, Aceh (Indonesia), Liberia and Sierra Leone

A critical review of community-driven development programmes in conflict-affected contexts.

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:03 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: King, E. A critical review of community-driven development programmes in conflict-affected contexts. International Rescue Committee (IRC), London, UK / Balsillie School of International Affairs, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada (2013) 55 pp.

Summary:

After participating in two rigorous impact evaluations of Community-Driven Development/Reconstruction (CDD/R) in Liberia and DRC, IRC and DFID embarked on this review as a next step in learning. They also wanted this review to inform design and evaluation strategies for new CDR programming in Somalia.

CDD/R programmes – that empower local communities to directly participate in development activities and to control resources to do so – aim to improve socio-economic wellbeing, governance, and social cohesion at a local level. While CDD/R is context driven, it is generally implemented as a standard model.

According to rigorous impact evaluations from programmes in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Aceh (Indonesia), Liberia and Sierra Leone, and interviews with practitioners, policymakers and academics, the record of CDD/R in conflict-affected contexts is mixed and, overall, disappointing in terms of reaching the ambitious goals set out.

As currently designed, implemented, and evaluated, CDD/R is better at generating the more tangible economic outcomes than it is at generating social changes related to governance and social cohesion, although even the economic effects are found in just a few studies. Moreover, CDD/R programming is better at producing outcomes directly associated with the project rather than broader changes in routine life.

CDD/R has been plagued by a panacea-type approach to goals and a generalised theory of change that is, as interviewees characterised it, "lofty", "unrealistic", "inherently flawed" and even "ridiculous".

A variety of issues related to programme design merit rethinking: the relatively short timeline of CDD/R projects, the small size of block grants, the limited reach of the projects, the menu restrictions on CDD/R programming, the limitations of social infrastructure, the quality and intensity of social facilitation, the manner in which communities are conceptualised and thus often not meaningful to participants, and how community institutions build on existing institutions and relate to the state.

Although the evaluations reviewed here are of high quality, they raise a number of methodological questions about the best measures and instruments for evaluating CDD/R, the timing of measurement, and levels of analysis, as well as if and how evaluations impact projects and outcomes.

Open and honest conversation about CDD/R – which has occurred too infrequently – must guide the way forward.

Future CDD/R efforts also need to be guided by humility and more realistic goals.

More questions can and should be asked in evaluations. Areas for future research on CDD/R consist of comparing CDD/R to other programming rather than a counterfactual of no programme, parsing the social and economic aspects of programme inputs and consequent outcomes, introducing variation within treatment communities to learn more about programme design and contextual features, and asking how and why questions about the CDD/R process, and the outcomes it generates. Stronger monitoring is essential.

The road ahead must build on the important work undertaken so far and the many questions raised here, not simply replicate what has been done in the past.

When disasters and conflicts collide. Improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention.

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:08 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Harris, K.; Keen, D.; Mitchell, T. When disasters and conflicts collide. Improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention. Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London, UK (2013) x + 54 pp.

Summary:

From 2005-2009, more than 50% of people affected by 'natural' disasters lived in fragile and conflict-affected states. Recently, a number of high profile disasters in fragile and conflict-affected states have increased attention on the concurrence of disasters and conflict, and there is an expectation that disasters and conflict will coincide more in the future.

This report focuses on the links between conditions of vulnerability and risks associated with the nexus of natural disasters, conflict and fragility. It also recognises that any given context will be mired by an even more complex array of intersecting risks. For example, in 2011, drought, and food and political insecurity in East Africa contributed to a full-scale humanitarian crisis. A combination of natural hazards, conflict and fragility provided a recipe for human suffering.

The evidence base for the 'natural' disasters-conflict interface is challenging: it is fragmented and contested, with a number of studies highlighting directly opposing lines of arguments. This suggests that the complexity of conflict and disaster dynamics can only be understood when grounded in specific contexts. Examples are therefore provided in the report from disaster risk reduction in Afghanistan, resilience building in the Sahel region, community based risk reduction in Karamoja and national risk reduction in Nepal.

The report is structured as follows: Section 1 - Introduction. Section 2 reviews the scale of the challenge by examining the extent to which conflict and natural disasters overlap and which countries are of most concern now and in the future. Section 3 looks at the evidence for how natural disasters affect conflict and fragility, before Section 4 examines the complementary question of how conflict and fragility affect resilience to natural disasters. Section 5 explores how the disaster-conflict interface might be understood conceptually and how the relationship between disaster risk management and conflict prevention might be strengthened. Section 6 reviews current practices and includes a set of case studies, and section 7 outlines recommendations for strengthening international policy, programming and finance and the current evidence base.

Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:39 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Hinds, R. Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan. Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, (2013) 13 pp.

Summary: Query: What is the evidence of the prevalence, trends and drivers of violence against women and girls in Afghanistan? Since 2005, what programmes to tackle violence against women and girls have been implemented by different actors (state, civil society, multilateral institutions)? What have been their successes and unintended consequences to date?

Key findings:

Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan is endemic, widespread and an undeniable reality. Though there have been some quantifiable improvements for women and girls since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, significant challenges remain in securing women’s rights in the country.

Literature on gender-based violence (GBV) in Afghanistan is comprehensive and rich with illustrative case studies that convey individuals’ experiences of violence. The first section of this helpdesk report assesses the prevalence, trends and drivers of GBV identifying factors which may increase women’s susceptibility to GBV, including:

marital context, i.e. if the female is in a forced, polygamous or child marriage, or if she is wed through baad or baadal;
both partners are illiterate;
living in a rural community or in southern and eastern border provinces;
encountering further violence as a result of attempting to access justice.

The second section identifies programmes relating to violence against women and girls that have been implemented by the state, civil society and international actors operating in Afghanistan. Though a number of activities are identified, very few impact evaluations have been carried out making it difficult to assess the successes or consequences of the programmes. Identified risks and lessons learned from the programmes include:

project sustainability can be an issue as many international non-governmental organisations have had difficulties in recruiting local staff;
issues surrounding the security of female staff and clients;
importance of an effective monitoring and evaluation framework;
programming should take into account the customary and traditional practices that affect women;
adaptability and flexibility of programmes due to the constantly shifting political and security environment.

When disasters and conflicts collide: Improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention.

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:41 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Harris, K.; Keen, D.; Mitchell, T. When disasters and conflicts collide: Improving links between disaster resilience and conflict prevention. Overseas Development Institute, London, UK (2013) x + 54 pp.

Summary:

This study assesses the evidence base for how natural disasters affect conflict, how conflict affects natural disasters, and how people living in complex environments are affected by multiple risks. It also considers what can be learned from current practices to improve conflict prevention, statebuilding and disaster risk management in ways that help build resilience.

The report is structured as follows: Section 1 is the introduction. Section 2 reviews the scale of the challenge by examining the extent to which conflict and natural disasters overlap and which countries are of most concern now and in the future. Section 3 looks at the evidence for how natural disasters affect conflict and fragility, before Section 4 examines the complementary question of how conflict and fragility affect resilience to natural disasters. Section 5 explores how the disaster–conflict interface might be understood conceptually and how the relationship between disaster risk management and conflict prevention might be strengthened. Section 6 reviews current practices and includes a set of case studies, and section 7 outlines recommendations for strengthening international policy, programming and finance and the current evidence base.

Examples are provided in the report of disaster risk reduction in Afghanistan, resilience building in the Sahel region, community based risk reduction in Karamoja and national risk reduction in Nepal.

A longitudinal panel survey in a conflict-affected situation! Are you crazy?

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:41 GMT

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Slater, R. A longitudinal panel survey in a conflict-affected situation! Are you crazy? (2012) [19 December, 2012]

Summary: SLRC is doing a quantitative survey in its seven focus countries to explore how livelihoods recover following conflict and how access to basic services affects perceptions of government. The intention is to do a longitudinal panel survey by returning to the same households in three years time. SLRC Research Director Rachel Slater talks about the challenges of attempting this survey in conflict affected and post-conflict countries.

International Migrants day: Understanding the whys

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 15:30 GMT

Yesterday, the 18th December, was International Migrants day. A working paper produced earlier this year, by the research programme consortium Migrating Out of Poverty, looks at the causes of migration.

Protocol - Low-Cost Private Schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan: What evidence to support sustainable scale-up?

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 09:26 GMT

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Barakat, S.; Hardman, F.; Rohwerder, B.; Rzeszut, K. Protocol - Low-Cost Private Schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan: What evidence to support sustainable scale-up? EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London, London, UK (2012) iii+43 pp.

Summary:

This is the protocol for a systematic review which aims to provide to DFID’s policy, regional, and country teams the best evidence of the mechanisms through which low-cost schools can be sustainably scaled-up in South and West Asia, with a specific focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan, if this policy and practice should be prove to be desirable.

Besides this primary objective it also has two secondary objectives, which are:
1. To consolidate available studies on low-cost private schools in South and West Asia so that future research can be based on easily identifiable relevant studies in one database that can be updated regularly.
2. To assess the quality and methodological rigour of the available research on low-cost education alternatives in order to identify areas in need of further study or new approaches in research methodology.

MDGs and ‘Fragile States'

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 14:39 GMT

Creator: Harvey, P

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Harvey, P. MDGs and ‘Fragile States’. (2012)

Summary: Are 'fragile states' failing to meet the Milllenium Development Goals? SLRC Director Paul Harvey argues in this blog that the answer is not as black and white as might be thought.

Delivering effective health services: Improving access, affordability and quality of health services for the poor

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:53 GMT

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Knezovich, J. Delivering effective health services: Improving access, affordability and quality of health services for the poor. (2012) 4 pp.

Summary: This four-page document outlines the research activities of the Future Health Systems research consortium. It outlines the core research themes, where we work, how we work, who is inolved, emerging cross-cutting themes, and highlights some key publications.