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Consultancy on the Evaluation of the INTERPEACE Voz Di Paz Programme in Guinea-Bissau (2009-2010)

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Consultancy on the Evaluation of the INTERPEACE Voz Di Paz Programme in Guinea-Bissau (2009-2010) Consultancy on the Evaluation of the INTERPEACE Voz di Paz Programme in Guinea-Bissau (2009-2010) Evaluation Report Annette Englert June 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................................................................................... 3 ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 8 1.1 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 OVERVIEW OF VOZ DI PAZ PEACE PROGRAMME ...................................................................................................... 8 1.3 SCOPE OF WORK AND METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 9 1.3.1 Definitions and Concepts ......................................................................................................................... 9 1.3.2 Scope of Work ........................................................................................................................................ 10 1.3.3 Methodology .......................................................................................................................................... 12 1.4 EVALUATION CHALLENGES AND LIMITATIONS ........................................................................................................ 13 1.5 WORK PLAN .................................................................................................................................................. 13 2. MAIN FINDINGS OF THE EVALUATION ................................................................................................. 14 2.1 RELEVANCE .................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Reorientation and Adaptation of the Programme during 2009 and 2010.............................................. 15 2.1.2 Coordination and Cooperation .............................................................................................................. 16 2.2 EFFECTIVENESS ............................................................................................................................................... 19 2.2.1 The Achievements, Constraints and Challenges of the Voz di Paz Programme .................................... 19 2.2.2 Special Focus: Achievements and Challenges of the Engagement with the Political-Military Elite ..... 26 2.2.3 Special Focus: Achievement and Challenges of the Regional Spaces for Dialogue .............................. 29 2.2.4 Special Focus: Achievements and Challenges of the Communication Tools ......................................... 33 2.3 IMPACT AND SUSTAINABILITY ............................................................................................................................. 35 3. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................................... 37 ANNEXES .................................................................................................................................................................. 41 ANNEX 1: TERMS OF REFERENCE ..................................................................................................................................... 41 ANNEX 2: WORKPLAN FOR THE FIELD VISIT 02.05.-14.05.11 .............................................................................................. 49 ANNEX 3: EU EVALUATION CRITERIA ............................................................................................................................... 53 ANNEX 4: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE PUBLIC EVENT ........................................................................................................ 54 2 Acknowledgement I take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all those who contributed to and facilitated the evaluation, and freely gave their time, ideas and inputs. I would in particular like to express my sincere thanks to the Regional Spaces for Dialogue (RSDs), staff of the Voz di Paz, as well as all the other interviewees who shared their views with me. I hope that the findings and conclusions in this report reflect a balanced view of all the stakeholders and will contribute to strengthening the Voz di Paz programme towards lasting peace in Guinea-Bissau. 3 Acronyms CSO Civil Society Organization EC European Commission EU European Union INEP Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas NGO Non-governmental Organization PR Public Relations RSD Regional Space for Dialogue TOR Terms of Reference UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNIOGBIS United Nations Integrated Peace-Building Office in Guinea-Bissau USAID United States agency for International Development WANEP West Africa Network for Peace 4 Executive Summary In 2005 Interpeace started a pre-research on request of UNOGBIS (now renamed UNIOGBIS) to launch a programme working for a peaceful transformation in Guinea-Bissau. This was a response to the long lasting conflict situation of the country, which culminated in a civil war 1998-1999 between the military and the government. Until today the struggle for power within the military-political elite is continuing. This is causing the neglect of economic and social development of the country. In 2007 Interpeace in co-operation with the local research Institution INEP designed and started a programme called Voz di Paz (Voice of Peace). The overall aim is to contribute to the peaceful development of the country. The programme comprises the following components: 1. A conflict analysis based on a broad nation wide consultation process with a broad representative range of stakeholders, called the ‘peace- mapping’ phase. 2. A so-called ‘formulation of peace visions and solution phase’ in which the nation wide consultation process will be continued to discuss and find solutions for the previously identified prior causes of conflict in form of policies, laws and public programmes. 3. As the first evaluation was carried out in 2008, this evaluation is covering broadly the project period of 2009-2010. The aim of the evaluation exercise was to identify the achievements, constraints and challenges with the focus on the four evaluation criteria relevance, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. Research methods were the review of all relevant project documents, field visits and semi-structured group and individual interviews. Although it was a challenge to measure the effects and impacts of a comprehensive nationwide programme aiming at a complex sociopolitical transformation towards peace, the evaluation could gain some insights and indications for strengths and challenges of the programme, but they can only be regarded as initial guidance. In general it was found, that the peace programme has developed valuable approaches to address the conflicts in Guinea-Bissau. The major achievements are as follows: During the programme period in question Voz di Paz succeeded in broadening and strengthening a nationwide debate on the causes of conflict and on dialogue as nonviolent mean of negotiating interests. Overall 23.100 people have directly participated in the activities and about 85 % of the total population is informed on the ongoing debate and the content of the programme via multi-media tools, mainly a weekly radio programme. The programme has a high degree of relevance as it addresses two main factors of the conflict scenario within the country: The lack of a culture of dialogue and the disregard of the perspectives of the population. 5 The consultations including all parts of the population have led to consolidated research findings on 17 sources of conflict in Guinea-Bissau, out of which four were identified as the most urgent for the consolidation of peace: Lack of governance, lack of a justice system, tribalism and poverty. The methodology of consultations with representative composed regional panels in form of a participatory action research approach as brought new positive experiences to the population: The population feels to be taken seriously and is empowered to formulate and discuss their demands, which was not possible beforehand due to decades of limited freedom of expression. The programme has already punctual influences on the political-military elite, which is involved in the most serious conflicts of the country. For example Voz di Paz was nominated into the governmental Commission of National Conference for Reconciliation. The latter has influenced the government to use a similar approach as Voz di Paz for the National Conference. One main achievement of the programme are the regional permanent structures, the Regional Spaces for Dialogue (RSD), which present a highly valuable instrument of the programme as it is enhancing an ongoing debate on peacebuilding and nonviolence on the local level, reducing local conflicts by acting as mediators and as such acting as role models for nonviolence and good governance.
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