Mid-Term Evaluation of Search for Common Ground (Centre Lokol) “Supporting Congo’s Transition Towards Sustainable Peace” programme in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) FINAL REPORT 22nd March 2006 Mary Myers Judy El-Bushra Triple Line Consulting ltd 1 Princeton Court 55 Felsham Rd LONDON SW15 1AZ, UK Tel: +44-20-8788-4666 Fax: +44-20-8788-5777 www.tripleline.com [email protected] Mid Term Review: Search for Common Ground in DRC Glossary of Acronyms APEC Appui au Processus Electoral au Congo APEFE Association pour l’Education et pour la Formation à l’Etranger – an aid agency of the Belgian Government CAR Central African Republic CEI Commission Electorale Indépendante (Independent Electoral Commission) CL Centre Lokolé CONADER Commission de désarmement, démobilisation et réinsertion des ex-combattants DDR Disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration DDRRR Disarmament, demobilisation, repatriation, reinsertion and reintegration DME Design, monitoring and evaluation FDLR Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda HAM Haute Autorité des Médias IA International Alert IFES International Foundation for Election Systems KAB Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour (surveys) MIJAS Mission des Jacobins Sages NGO Non-governmental organisation RCD Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie RDC République Démocratique du Congo REPPAD Réseau de Pacification pour la Paix et le Développement RO Radio Okapi RTNC Radio Télévision Nationale Congolaise SfCG Search for Common Ground UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Note: The use of the term ‘ex child-soldier’ refers to all children formerly associated with armed groups and forces, as combatants or in other roles (porters, cooks, sex slaves etc.) who are now demobilised. Acknowledgements: We would like to thank all those who gave us their time and insights, and for making this review a very illuminating and enjoyable experience. - Judy El Bushra and Mary Myers, March 2006 Final Report 22nd March 2006 2 Mid Term Review: Search for Common Ground in DRC TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary.................................................................... 4 1 Introduction .......................................................................... 7 2 Methodology .......................................................................... 9 3 Assessment of outputs and their contribution to the programme’s purpose .............................................................. 10 3.1 Introduction to CL’s Programme ..................................................................10 3.2 Progress Against Outputs............................................................................10 3.3 Is the project on the right track in terms of objectives, deliverables and budget? 17 4 CL’s contribution to peace-building in the DRC transition .... 19 4.1 What has CL contributed to national processes? .............................................19 4.1.1 DDR and the creation of a unified national army .................................... 19 4.2 What has SfCG contributed to the reduction of tension in the East? ..................22 4.2.1 ‘Common ground’ journalism .............................................................. 22 4.2.2 Community reconciliation................................................................. 23 4.2.3 Creative arts and conflict transformation............................................ 24 5 CL in relation to DFID’s media and peace-building portfolios and post-election ‘community recovery’................................... 26 5.1 What is Centre Lokolé’s Unique Selling Point? ................................................26 5.2 Synergies between media and peace-building ...............................................27 5.2.1. Media issues .................................................................................... 27 5.2.2. Peace building.................................................................................. 27 5.3. Centre Lokolé and community recovery .......................................................28 6 Monitoring and Evaluation Issues ........................................ 30 7. Recommendations ............................................................... 32 7.1 Recommendations for DFID: .......................................................................32 7.2 Recommendations to Centre Lokolé for enhancing current activities: ................32 7.3 Recommendations for Centre Lokolé on institutional processes and linkages:.....33 Annex 1: Terms of Reference.................................................... 35 Annex 2: List of Key Documents Reviewed ............................... 38 Annex 3: People Consulted during Mid-Term Review................ 39 Annex 4: Original Logframe...................................................... 42 Annex 5: PowerPoint Presentation with Preliminary Findings .. 46 Annex 6: Output to Purpose Review ......................................... 50 6.1 Part A - Project Data..................................................................................50 6.2 Part B - Recommendations .........................................................................51 6.3 Part C – Project Scoring Assessment ............................................................53 6.4 Part D – Risk Management .........................................................................62 6.5 Part E – Lessons Learned ...........................................................................63 Annex 7: Clarifications Presented by Search for Common Ground in DRC ...................................................................................... 64 Final Report 22nd March 2006 3 Mid Term Review: Search for Common Ground in DRC Executive Summary This mid-term output-to-purpose review of Search for Common Ground’s (Centre Lokolé - CL) “Supporting Congo’s Transition towards Sustainable Peace” programme was undertaken to provide an objective assessment of the programme’s progress against its aims, and its impact to date. The review found that, in general, the programme is on the right track to achieve its purpose (laying the foundations for sustainable peace by enhancing informative and participative communication around the transition process and by contributing to the reduction of tensions in the Eastern Congo) through activities focused on conflict transformation, media training and, to a lesser extent, community reconciliation. The next 18 months provide CL with an opportunity to consolidate the successes for the first phase of this programme while also allowing it to strengthen internal capacity around management and monitoring and evaluation. DFID should have no hesitation in continuing to provide funding for this phase. Centre Lokolé has successfully undertaken a large number of activities since the start of the programme. These have included: ! Producing ten weekly radio programmes which are distributed to a total of 84 radio stations (including the production of six weekly radio programmes broadcast through around 35 stations in the Kiswahili zone); ! Activities aimed at reducing tensions in Eastern DRC including four facilitated community reconciliation projects, and the establishment of two theatre troupes specialising in participatory theatre for conflict transformation; ! Providing partner radio stations with basic factual and official documentation related to various national processes together with in-kind support (basic broadcasting equipment); ! Distributing a comic strip version of one of the radio soap operas as well as posters on elections and other transition issues; ! Training around 200 journalists and writers of radio drama in ‘common ground’ journalism, writing for specific formats, and editing processes. Centre Lokolé is also starting to develop activities which include elements of both radio and on-the-ground conflict transformation work. These include: ! A radio series on army integration and a training initiative for newly integrated brigades, focusing on human rights, communication and conflict transformation.; ! Activities promoting the reintegration of returning refugees in South Kivu through a combination of radio, theatre, and community development initiatives (in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). Assessment CL is currently in the process of setting up a design, monitoring and evaluation (DME) system. This means that, at present, evidence of impact is incomplete, however listener feedback, some limited audience survey work, and Final Report 22nd March 2006 4 Mid Term Review: Search for Common Ground in DRC stakeholder appreciations do provide some indication of the positive outcomes of the work to-date. CL is the only organisation in DRC that is advocating conflict transformation to a mass-audience. It combines practical peace-building with the power of the mass-media (i.e. radio), to inform and encourage Congolese participation in the ongoing peace process, as well as influencing knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of the audience in ways that can facilitate peace. In particular, ‘Jirani ni Ndugu’ (a soap opera) and ‘Sisi Watoto’ (magazine programme on children’s rights prepared and produced by children) both attract large audiences owing to their entertainment value and capacity to reflect the language and outlook of ordinary people in eastern DRC. CL has promoted conflict transformation communication through its radio outputs as well as through participatory theatre (in which field it has become an important resource), and to a less evident degree through its