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USAID/OTI Afghanistan CCI Final Evaluation Report Ii

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USAID/OTI Afghanistan CCI Final Evaluation Report Ii Final PerformanceACKU Evaluation of the USAID/OTI Community Cohesion Initiative in Afghanistan February 2016 This publication was produced at the request of the United States Agency for International Development. It was prepared independently by Social Impact. ACKU Cover photo: A focus group discussion with female participants in Kunar Province. Participant 3 told the group: “When the CCI project was implemented in Chandrawi village the relations between government and people were strengthened. The first activity of the project was to build a wall to protected [sic] people from floods. It solved many problems of the people. Fields and houses that were vulnerable before, now they are protected. Now people understand and they have trust in the government.” FINAL PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE USAID/OTI COMMUNITY COHESION INITIATIVE IN AFGHANISTAN: A COMPREHENSIVE QUALITATIVE STUDY OF PROJECT PERFORMANCE, STRATEGY, AND THEORY OF CHANGE, ACTIVITY OUTCOMES, LEARNING PROCESSES, AND LESSONS LEARNED February 18, 2016 AID-OAA-I-13-00006 Performance Evaluation Implemented by Social Impact under OTI Task Order #11 of the Program Development Quickly III (PDQ III) Indefinite Quantity Contract ACKU DISCLAIMER The author’s views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government. CONTENTS Acronyms.............................................................................................................................................................................. i Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... ii Evaluation Purpose and Evaluation Questions ............................................................................................................ 1 Evaluation Methodology and Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 7 Methodology .................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Review of Secondary Data Sources (Desk Review) ............................................................................................. 7 In-Depth Interviews ...................................................................................................................................................... 7 Focus Group Discussions ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Limitations of the Evaluation Methodology ............................................................................................................ 9 Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 11 Findings .......................................................................................................................................................................... 11 EQ1: Strategy and Theory of Change .................................................................................................................... 11 EQ2: Activity Outcomes ........................................................................................................................................... 17 EQ3: Program Learning ............................................................................................................................................. 26 EQ4: Lessons Learned ............................................................................................................................................... 29 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................................. 31 EQ1: Strategy ............................................................................................................................................................... 32 EQ2: Activity Outcomes ........................................................................................................................................... 33 EQ3: Program Learning ............................................................................................................................................. 34 EQ4: Lessons Learned ............................................................................................................................................... 35 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................................... 37 EQ1: Strategy ............................................................................................................................................................... 37 EQ2: Activity Outcomes ........................................................................................................................................... 37 EQ3: Program Learning .............................................................................................................................................ACKU 38 EQ4: Lessons Learned ............................................................................................................................................... 38 Annexes ............................................................................................................................................................................. 40 Annex I: Evaluation Statement of Work ................................................................................................................ 40 Annex II: Evaluation Methods and Limitations ..................................................................................................... 56 Annex III: Data Collection Instruments ................................................................................................................. 69 Annex IV: Sources of Information ........................................................................................................................... 74 ACRONYMS AFS Afghanis AOG Armed Opposition Group ASI Afghanistan Stabilization Initiative ATI Afghanistan Transition Initiative CCI Community Cohesion Initiative COIN Counterinsurgency CR Country Representative CSO Civil Society Organization CVE Countering Violent Extremism FGD Focus Group Discussion FPO Field Program Officers GIRoA Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan IDI In-Depth Interview IED Improvised Explosive Device IMU Independent Monitoring Unit IOM International Organization for Migration IP Implementing Partner IQC Indefinite Quantity Contract FPO Field Program Officer M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MISTI Measuring Impact of Stabilization Initiatives MSC Most Significant Change NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization OAPA Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs OTI Office of Transition Initiatives PDU Program Development Unit POC Project Oversight Committee PPR Program Performance Review RQDA R-based Qualitative Data Analysis RSI Rahman Safi International Consulting SI Social Impact SIKA Stability in Key Areas SOP Standard OperatingACKU Procedure SOW Statement of Work SPSS Statistical Software Package for the Social Sciences SRS Strategy Review Session TDY Temporary Duty TL Team Leader TO Task Order USAID United States Agency for International Development USIP United States Institute of Peace USG United States Government VE Violent Extremism/Violent Extremist i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report answers key evaluation questions and presents findings, conclusions, and recommendations from the end-of-project final evaluation of the Community Cohesion Initiative (CCI) of the United States Agency for International Development/Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) Afghanistan. USAID/OTI’s mission is to support U.S. foreign policy objectives by helping local partners advance peace and democracy in priority countries in crisis. Seizing critical windows of opportunity, USAID/OTI works on the ground to provide fast, flexible, short-term assistance targeted at key political transition and stabilization needs. The Afghanistan Community Cohesion Initiative was implemented by USAID/OTI from March 2012 to December 2015 in support of the U.S. Government’s (USG’s) strategy to improve stability in strategically selected areas of Afghanistan, laying the foundation for longer‐term development.1 The goal of the USAID/OTI Afghanistan CCI program was to increase community resilience in areas vulnerable to insurgent exploitation.2 EVALUATION PURPOSE The evaluation findings, conclusions, and recommendations presented in this report come from a comprehensive review of CCI’s overall impact and key lessons learned, significant program achievements, challenges encountered, and the strategic design approaches used to facilitate program implementation. Because OTI has determined that no new program of assistance for Afghanistan will follow the closure of CCI in December 2015, this evaluation is not intended to directly inform the design of follow-on OTI programming in Afghanistan. Rather, the purpose of this evaluation is to offer lessons learned from CCI related to programming strategy, activity outcomes, and implementation processes that may be applied
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