Nine Years of Nonviolent Peaceforce in Sri Lanka Lessons Learned in Implementing Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping By Christine Schweitzer Institute for Peace Work and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation (www.ifgk.de) Hamburg, September 2012 9 Years of NP in Sri Lanka Implementing UCP report Contents Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 11 1.1 The wider context of the conflicts in Sri Lanka .............................................................................................. 11 1.1.1 The war in Sri Lanka ............................................................................................................................... 11 1.1.2 Civil society ............................................................................................................................................... 13 1.1.3 Protection activities of other agencies .................................................................................................. 13 1.2 Nonviolent Peaceforce ........................................................................................................................................ 16 1.3 Purpose and scope of the evaluation ................................................................................................................ 16 1.4 Sources and methodology ................................................................................................................................... 17 1.5 Terminology .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 1.6 Structure of the report......................................................................................................................................... 19 2. A short historiography of NP Sri Lanka ...................................................................................... 20 2.1 The planning phase .............................................................................................................................................. 20 2.2 Preparation for deployment ............................................................................................................................... 21 2.3 The first fourteen months: The field teams starts working........................................................................... 21 2.3.1 Changing mandate ................................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2 The activities ............................................................................................................................................. 23 2.4 Tsunami response ................................................................................................................................................ 26 2.5 2005 – 2009: A wide range of protection activities ........................................................................................ 27 2.5.1 Mandate changed twice more ................................................................................................................ 27 2.5.2 The project grows and matures ............................................................................................................. 28 2.5.3 Activities .................................................................................................................................................... 29 2.6 The post-war period ............................................................................................................................................ 39 2.6.1 New strategizing ...................................................................................................................................... 40 2.6.2 Four programs .......................................................................................................................................... 40 2.6.3 Winding down .......................................................................................................................................... 44 2.7 After the exit ......................................................................................................................................................... 45 2.8 Summary and appraisal of the activities ........................................................................................................... 45 3. What has been achieved? ............................................................................................................. 48 3.1 Findings of the various evaluations and other sources .................................................................................. 48 3.1.1 Furnari 2006 ............................................................................................................................................. 48 3.1.2 Hebib and Berndt 2007 .......................................................................................................................... 49 3.1.3 Internal assessment 2008 ........................................................................................................................ 50 3.1.4 Evaluation for UNICEF 2009 .............................................................................................................. 50 3.1.5 Berndt 2010 .............................................................................................................................................. 52 3.1.6 Reports 2010-2011................................................................................................................................... 52 3.1.7 Exit evaluation 2011 ................................................................................................................................ 53 3.1.8 Summary and appraisal ........................................................................................................................... 55 3.2 Unintended outcomes and impact in the field ................................................................................................ 59 2 9 Years of NP in Sri Lanka Implementing UCP report 3.3 Appropriateness and validity of goal, objectives and strategy ...................................................................... 60 3.4 Sustainability ......................................................................................................................................................... 62 4. How it has been achieved............................................................................................................ 64 4.1 Key elements for effectiveness .......................................................................................................................... 64 4.2 Management and organization ........................................................................................................................... 65 4.3 Efficiency............................................................................................................................................................... 66 4.3.1 Cost efficiency .......................................................................................................................................... 67 4.3.2 Efficiency in achieving objectives ......................................................................................................... 67 4.3.3 Efficiency of relationships involved in implementing the program ................................................ 68 5. Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping ................................................................................................. 70 5.1 Comparison to other agencies ........................................................................................................................... 70 5.2 Lessons regarding NP’s basic principles .......................................................................................................... 70 5.2.1 Nonpartisanship ....................................................................................................................................... 71 5.2.2 Nonviolence ............................................................................................................................................. 72 5.2.3 International law ...................................................................................................................................... 73 5.3 NP’s theory and practice and trends in the broader humanitarian and peacebuilding discourses ........................................................................................................................................ 74 6. Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 76 Sources and Literature ............................................................................................................................................... 78 Evaluations and internal reviews ............................................................................................................................