Swedish Democracy Promotion Through Ngos in Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru
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Democracy Promotion through NGOs NGOs in Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru through Swedish Democracy Promotion Swedish Democracy Promotion Outcome-Oriented Evaluation of Diakonia’s Latin America Programme through NGOs in Bolivia, Diakonia is one of the largest Swedish non-governmental organisations with funding from Sida. This is an evaluation of its Latin America program- Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru me. The overall objective of the programme is democracy promotion and it is centred on strategies of training and capacity development of civil Outcome-Oriented Evaluation of Diakonia’s society organisations. Latin America Programme The evaluation includes eight of Diakonia’s partner organisations in Bolivia, Peru, Nicaragua and Guatemala. The primary focus is on intermediary Staffan Löfving outcomes broadly defi ned: what has actually happened as a result of the Charlotta Widmark projects? The methodology includes repeated interviews with benefi ciaries Roddy Brett during a period of one year and a half and the evaluation consciously Victor Caballero approaches results from a strict benefi ciary perspective. The evaluation Miguel González hence produces a more in-depth and holistic understanding of outcomes Cecilia Salazar than is often the case in evaluation. Fernanda Soto The report contains valuable insights into the functioning of Diakonia’s Latin America programme; it offers important lessons on strategies of democracy promotion and in particular capacity development; and it pro- vides fuel for the continued process of methodological learning at Sida. This evaluation was carried out by a multidisciplinary team of researchers, led by the Institute of Latin American Studies, Stockholm University. Sida Evaluation 2008:02 SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENCY Department for Evaluation Address: SE-105 25 Stockholm, Sweden. Visiting address: Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm. Tel: +46 8 698 50 00. Fax: +46 8 20 88 64. E-mail: [email protected] www.sida.se Sida EVALUATION 2008:02 Swedish Democracy Promotion through NGOs in Bolivia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru Outcome-Oriented Evaluation of Diakonia’s Latin America Programme Staffan Löfving Charlotta Widmark Roddy Brett Victor Caballero Miguel González Cecilia Salazar Fernanda Soto Sida EVALUATION 2008:02 This report is part of Sida Evaluations, a series comprising evaluations of Swedish development assistance. Sida’s other series concerned with evaluations, Sida Studies in Evaluation, concerns methodologically oriented studies commissioned by Sida. Both series are administered by the Department for Evaluation and Internal Audit, an independent department reporting directly to Sida’s Board of Directors. This publication can be downloaded/ordered from: http://www.sida.se/publications Authors: Staffan Löfving, Charlotta Widmark, Roddy Brett, Victor Caballero, Miguel González, Cecilia Salazar, and Fernanda Soto. The views and interpretations expressed in this report are the authors’ and do not necessarily refl ect those of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida. Sida Evaluation 2008:02 Commissioned by Sida, Department for Evaluation Copyright: Sida and the authors Registration No.: 2005-004370 Date of Final Report: January 2008 Printed by Edita Communication, 2008 Art. no. Sida40936en ISBN 978-91-586-8194-1 ISSN 1401— 0402 SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COOPERATION AGENCY Address: SE-105 25 Stockholm, Sweden. Offi ce: Valhallavägen 199, Stockholm Telephone: +46 (0)8-698 50 00. Telefax: +46 (0)8-20 88 64 E-mail: [email protected]. Homepage: http://www.sida.se Preface This evaluation of Diakonia’s Latin America programme was initiated by the Department for Evaluation, UTV, in cooperation with the Regional Department for Latin America, RELA. The evaluation is part of Sida’s en- hanced effort to assess and understand the results of democracy and human rights support. Diakonia is one of the largest of the Swedish frame organisations and Sida has a long history of supporting Diakonia’s programme in Latin America. Taken together Sida’s agreements with Diakonia, concerning Latin America, amounted to approximately SEK 380 000 000 for the period 2004 to 2007. The evaluated Latin American programme, with its focus on training and capacity development, includes commonly used strategies in Sida’s support for democracy promotion at the local level. Hence it offers an opportunity for wider learning in one of the prioritised areas of Swedish development co-operation. The evaluation has been conducted with a fairly innovative design and meth- odology. It looks at intermediary outcomes broadly defi ned, and adopts a strict benefi ciary perspective. An adapted anthropological methodology has been employed to offer a more in-depth collection of views from benefi ciar- ies than is often the case in evaluations. Findings are generated on a number of different issues. The evaluation con- tains valuable insights into the working of Diakonia’s Latin America pro- gramme; it offers important lessons on strategies of democracy promotion and in particular capacity development; and it provides fuel for the contin- ued process of methodological learning at Sida. Stefan Molund Acting Director Department for Evaluation Sida iii Table of Contents 1. Acronyms ............................................................... vii 2. Executive Summary ...............................................11 2. Resumen Ejecutivo ................................................. 19 3. Introduction ...........................................................28 1. The aim of the evaluation ...........................................................28 2. Evaluation design .........................................................................29 3. Introduction to the activities studied ............................................30 4. Timeframe for the evaluation and the fi eld visits .........................34 5. The composition and experience of the teams of evaluators ......36 4. Methodological framework .....................................39 1. Introduction ..................................................................................39 2. Outcome mapping meets qualitative research .............................40 3. The qualitative interview .............................................................43 4. Teamwork and the problematic selection of interviewees ...........44 5. Our method in practice ................................................................45 5. Democracy promotion and its challenges: Sweden and Latin America .................................... 48 1. Swedish development cooperation in Latin America ...................48 2. Democracy promotion through civil society assistance and capacity development ............................................................49 6. Bolivia: People’s efforts to reconfigure a state in crisis ......................................................55 1. A process of social and political transformation ..........................56 2. The school of political leadership in El Alto ................................58 3. Problems, progress, and promises from the perspective of the users ...................................................................................66 4. The National Indigenous Association of Forestry (AFIN) ...........72 5. AFIN at the local level .................................................................80 6. Understanding outcomes .............................................................83 v 7. The tensions between state and “civil society” in Peru ..................................................................87 1. New government, confl icts, and frustration .................................87 2. The work of Diakonia in the new national context .....................90 3. Alternativa and the context of the Cono Norte de Lima ...............92 4. Problems, progress, and promises from the perspective of the users of the Leadership School ..........................................96 5. Ayacucho and the process of decentralisation ...........................101 6. Perspectives of the users of CEDAP ..........................................108 7. Understanding outcomes ...........................................................111 8. Nicaragua: Challenging authority by institutional means ...............................................115 1. Political development relevant to the objectives of the study .....115 2. Diakonia and its partners in national and local contexts ...........119 3. Problems, progress, and promises from the perspective of the users ................................................................................123 4. Understanding outcomes ...........................................................132 9. The continuous search for alternatives in Guatemala ....................................................... 142 1. Political development relevant to the objectives of the study .....143 2. Diakonia and its partners – Aims and contexts ..........................148 3. Problems, progress, and promises from the perspective of the users .................................................................................153 4. Understanding outcomes ...........................................................167 10. Conclusions and future challenges ........................ 174 References ................................................................ 188 Appendix A – List of Interviewees ................................. 191 Appendix B – Terms of Reference ................................ 202