- Evaluation Plan:
- 2016-2018, South Sudan
- Evaluation Type:
- Final Project
- Planned End Date:
- 03/2017
- Completion Date:
- 09/2017
- Status:
- Completed
- Management Response:
- Yes
- Evaluation Budget(US $):
- 30,000
Community Security and Arms Control End of Project Evaluation
| Document | Type | Language | Size | Status | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 CSAC Summative evaluation report_ 2017.pdf |
report | English | 1393.88 KB | Posted | 1527 |
| ToRs_ summative evaluation of the Community Security and Arms Control project.pdf |
tor | English | 283.79 KB | Posted | 1120 |
| Executive Summary - Summative Evaluation of the Community Security and Arms Control Project.pdf |
summary | English | 216.53 KB | Posted | 1050 |
| Title | Community Security and Arms Control End of Project Evaluation | ||||||||||||
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| Atlas Project Number: | 00064257 | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Plan: | 2016-2018, South Sudan | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Type: | Final Project | ||||||||||||
| Status: | Completed | ||||||||||||
| Completion Date: | 09/2017 | ||||||||||||
| Planned End Date: | 03/2017 | ||||||||||||
| Management Response: | Yes | ||||||||||||
| Focus Area: |
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| Corporate Outcome and Output (UNDP Strategic Plan 2018-2021) |
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| SDG Goal |
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| SDG Target |
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| Evaluation Budget(US $): | 30,000 | ||||||||||||
| Source of Funding: | DFID, Sweden | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Expenditure(US $): | 30,000 | ||||||||||||
| Joint Programme: | No | ||||||||||||
| Joint Evaluation: | No | ||||||||||||
| Evaluation Team members: |
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| GEF Evaluation: | No | ||||||||||||
| Key Stakeholders: | Bureau for Community Security and Arms Control, South Sudan Peace and Reconciliation Commission | ||||||||||||
| Countries: | SOUTH SUDAN | ||||||||||||
| Comments: | Evaluation was succesfully completed |
| Lessons | |
|---|---|
| 1. |
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| Findings | |
| 1. | Relevance The focus on community level initiatives and on strengthening conflict resolution structures and processes at local and county level was the most appropriate response both before and after the 2013 crises. Efforts to introduce arms control, to build a peace infrastructure and support wider engagement in the peace process through the NPPR were all relevant and timely. Effectiveness The Project was effective in a number of key areas. At local level it has increased people sense of security, Improved inter group relationships, helped create more resilient communities and strengthened the peace infrastructure at local level. The project has also facilitated the engagement and empowerment of women through capacity building, increased engagement in conflict resolution and peacebuilding and through livelihoods interventions including ones which specifically targeted marginalised women. The CSO component has been significant and was an effective mechanism to extend the reach of the project and to strengthen sustainability. However the short term nature of the support provided to these NGOs limits effectiveness and CSAC should extend the support provided and should also strengthen links and synergies between these NGOs The evaluation identified a number of issues relating to the CSAC theory of change. The project was designed when the international community was focusing its efforts on state building, extending the reach of the GoSS, and creating a “peace dividend” and CSAC was aligned with this overarching national and international strategy. However there are questions over the validity of this approach and the analysis which underpinned it on the basis that it was not addressing the critical issues of power and ethnic divisions at national level. As a result the CSAC theory of change was not sufficiently geared to the core conflict drivers and this reduced the overall effectiveness of the project. Impact The evaluation has found that CSAC interventions have contributed to peace and security at a local level by increasing peoples sense of security, improving inter group relationships and by building more resilient communities which are better able to resist violence and provocation. This work has also strengthened the peace infrastructure at local level, built the capacity of local government and strengthened the social contract in these states. The project made significant progress and has established a useful platform for scaling up and taking these approach to a national level. However the project was not of sufficient scale to make a significant impact at state and national level and the ongoing political and security crises has eroded earlier gains in several states. Efforts to bring about change at the national level have been frustrated by the lack of progress on implementation of the peace agreement, a lack of political will, and institutional weaknesses and despite a significant investment the overall outcomes are disappointing. Despite this the evaluation has found that this was the right strategy and that SCAC played an important role in supporting and sustaining a national peace infrastructure at a difficult time. This provides a basis for further work when the space opens up for national dialogue and possible disarmament. There are lessons for CSAC on how to work in this arena which can inform their approach to the planned National dialogue process. Sustainability The ongoing conflict and the devastating impact on communities have limited the sustainability of some of CSAC work particularly early conflict sensitive development projects. However some elements have reasonable potential to be sustained in particular the work at community level on resource based conflicts, establishing and/or strengthening dispute resolution mechanisms and the interdependencies projects. The work with local government also has some potential for sustainability especially the peace structures at county level. CSAC needs to main its focus on sustainability and also needs to ensure that all projects remain conflict sensitive. |
| 2. | ipsum lorem |
| 3. | 4.2 Relevance Tag: Relevance Conflict resolution Crisis prevention Infrastructure Capacity Building Institutional Strengthening |
| 4. | Building the capacity of both local and national government and extending the reach of the state was a priority in the South Sudan development plan (SSDP). The CSAC framework supported this strategy at local level and was relevant to and consistent with both national priorities and the UNDAF outcomes. Examples of this are the establishment of infrastructure projects (community resource centre, police stations and water projects) which were designed to meet local needs, provide basic services and strengthen the social contract. There is broad consensus that the CSAC approach to community security was relevant and appropriate despite the changes in the context. People consulted (implementing partners, local government and communities) agree that the suite of support provided at local levels were relevant and most likely to bring about change. In order to ensure CSAC relevance, there was a strong focus on community consultations and engaging all sections of the community (women, youth, traditional leaders). Communities were centrally involved in the selection of interventions that would improve security and further extend state authority and legitimacy. Tag: Relevance Local Governance Security Infrastructure |
| 5. | Local conflicts are frequently driven by competition for resources combined with mistrust, cycles of revenge and the absence of mechanisms to resolve conflict (either traditional or formal state structures) These factors have been exacerbated and become increasingly entangled in the political conflict, the increased emphasis on identity politics and the devastation caused by armed groups. CSAC endeavoured to tackle this complex situation by supporting communities to identify conflict causes, develop local responses and build local capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts. It has sought to identify common interests, building relationships, develop interdependencies and ultimately transform these conflict. It has also worked to combat the political/ethnic conflict by building resilient communities with the capacity to resist manipulation and withstand shocks including movements of IDPs. CSAC has worked on four sets of relationships ; intra community where there is a break down in relationships, inter group along tribal and ethic fracture lines, between IDPs and host communities (often with an ethnic dimension) and between these communities and the state at county and state level. Tag: Conflict Conflict resolution Crisis prevention Awareness raising Coordination |
| 6. | The evaluation considers these approaches to be highly relevant in the context of South Sudan and these efforts were timely and appropriate to the context. South Sudan is a fractured nation and the social fabric and social cohesion has been destroyed by decades of conflict. Efforts to build social cohesion particularly across the ethnic fault-lines and to start to build a social contract between the citizens and the state are essential for the future of South Sudan. The work is relevant both in terms of its direct results in the target communities and it terms of creating hope and providing some momentum for peace on the ground. Tag: Relevance Peace Building Social cohesion |
| 7. | Field visits to Rumbek and national levels interviews in Juba affirmed that the priorities and projects were considered relevant at the time and continue to be viewed as important priorities. The projects identified community connectors and interdependencies, and addressed some of the factors that drive conflict and impede inter-communal peace. Tag: Relevance Conflict Conflict resolution |
| 8. | The causes of the ongoing conflict in SS are complex and deep rooted with local resource based conflicts entwined with national political and power related conflicts. Stakeholders identified a range of factors including political fragmentation and power struggles at national level, political and economic marginalisation, resource conflict (land, pastures, water and cattle) conflicts around border increasingly linked to the establishment of the new states. Ethnic tensions and the exploitation and manipulation of these divisions and the proliferation of weapons have created a highly volatile and dangerous situation. Tag: Conflict Social cohesion |
| 9. | CSAC has concentrated its efforts on several of these factors particularly the resource based conflicts and disputes around tribal areas and county and state borders. It has also sought to address marginalisation at local level and to build trust and relationships at local level between ethnic groups. This work was very relevant to the context in South Sudan over the last 5 years. Tag: Conflict Social cohesion |
| 10. | Although it was not designed as a national peace and reconciliation project, CSAC did endeavour to work national level to promote reconciliation and address the increasing ethnic tensions and violence taking place through its support for the SSPRC and the NPPR but faced a number of challenges in attempting to do so. The main barrier was donor resistance to any links with the government after 2013 and increasingly so in 2015/16 and some resistance from the Government side. Despite this CSAC was able to implement a number of strategic interventions which were highly relevant to the context at that time through support for the Peace and Reconciliation Commission, support for the establishment of the NPPR support to the BCSSAC on the firearms bill. However there are some concerns that CSAC was influenced by the wider international consensus on the need for state building and that the project did not focus sufficiently on the ethnic issue and the deep division in South Sudan. Tag: Challenges Peace Building |
| 11. | 4.3 Effectiveness Tag: Effectiveness Peace Building Promotion of dialogue Social cohesion |
| 12. | 4.3 Effectiveness Tag: Effectiveness Conflict resolution Peace Building Social cohesion |
| 13. | CSAC supported a range of infrastructure projects such as police stations, bore holes, county community centres and also support local government agencies to reach to communities through the provision of transport ( jeeps, and boats) Given the context in SS at this period and the range of needs on the ground the strategy of linking peace and security with livelihood supports and creating some peace dividends at local level appears to have been effective at that time even though there are serious questions around sustainability. It is not clear if there had been sufficient emphasis on sustainability of these assets or if there was sufficient local capacity and local government commitment to sustain the results. It is unclear how effective a lot of this work was as the conflict in 2013 led to the withdrawal of CSAC from many of the areas supported. It appears that some of these infrastructure projects (particularly police stations) had become hubs for communities and encouraged people to move there for security. A number of the county development centres have been used by UNMISS, for training and community engagement processes and more recently for humanitarian assistance. The consensus among those consulted is that much of the gains from this period have been lost through conflict and displacement. However the analysis at that time was that this work was useful and effective. Tag: Conflict resolution Peace Building Security |
| 14. | CSAC has further developed this approach in its more recent work and through the interdependencies concept which is again linking peace and security with livelihoods but with an increased focus on bridging the ethnic fractures, building the capacity of the stakeholders and strengthening the engagement of local government. Through this approach CSAC has supported a number of projects including markets and fish co-operative which build interdependencies between divided communities including projects connecting IDPs and host communities. Tag: Effectiveness Capacity Building Institutional Strengthening |
| 15. | The addition of a CSO component has been a useful addition and an effective mechanism to reach to extend the reach of the project and to strengthen sustainability. CSAC has supported 20 CSOs (19 National and one INGO) to deliver a range of peacebuilding initiatives. This has also been significant as it enabled CSAC to reach into areas under SPLA-IO control in Upper Nile and Jongeli and to support these communities. For example Sudd Relief and Development Agency and Sobat Community for Peace and Development have been implementing project and building relationships with these communities. These partners have also been able to facilitate links and humanitarian relief and some trade across these ethnic divides. These are important elements in the overall peacebuilding and reconciliation process as it creates links with both these communities and some level of trust with the SPLA-IO and have facilitated access by the UNDP to key political actors in the opposition. Working through CSOs has also extended the reach of CSAC and enabled it to support IDPs and to build relationships among IDPs and between IDPs and host communities. Tag: Effectiveness Sustainability Project and Programme management Bilateral partners Capacity Building Institutional Strengthening |
| 16. | The CSOs bring specific sectoral expertise and local knowledge to the project and have added value to the work. Examples of this are;
Tag: Effectiveness Capacity Building Institutional Strengthening Operational Services Technical Support |
| 17. | The CSOs bring specific sectoral expertise and local knowledge to the project and have added value to the work. Examples of this are;
Tag: Effectiveness Capacity Building Institutional Strengthening Operational Services Technical Support |
| 18. | The work at county level – conducting community consultations and conflict analysis, establishing county peace committees and connecting local government with the communities has been effective and this has strengthened the peace and security component at local level. The earlier strategy of providing infrastructure and technical support to the police at local level was significant at the time. Consultations with stakeholders verified that a lots of security improvements has resulted from work at local and county levels. The setting up of community structures such Peace Committee allowed for the local levels responses to security incidents and increased the confidence of the local populations. Tag: Peace Building Security Technical Support |
| 19. | The development of a livestock patrol unit in Jongeli is recognised as being particularly relevant and effective with evidence that cattle raiding had decreased in the areas covered by this initiative. Interviews with communities and other various actors verified that this had contributed to the overall outcome of increased security and with reduced reports of inter-communal conflict, especially cattle raiding and inter-communal assaults. In Lakes state, it was confirmed at the community meeting that there is a shift from cattle “raids” to cattle ‘theft’ and large scale communal fighting to petty crimes. The understanding is that the role of CSAC brought a shift from inter-communal conflict to smaller ‘criminal’ groups, with smaller numbers or reduced fatalities. This and other similar projects have the potential for scaling up. Tag: Efficiency Relevance Promotion of dialogue Security Social cohesion |
| 20. | The efforts to support the Peace and Reconciliation Commission have faced significant challenges in relation to its capacity, the deterioration on the wider context and a lack of political will to implement the peace agreement and promote reconciliation. The Commission has to navigate a complex political arena with concerns around political interference, a lack of independence and the challenge of being an impartial actor in an escalating conflict. The lack of political will or real support for this work coupled with political interference has affected donors’ perceptions of these institutions and their willingness to support them. The fiscal crises have been a significant factor with little or no government resources to support the Commission. CSAC has invested considerable resources by providing technical support with four specialist staff either embedded in or available to support the institution. This was important in the outreach work to develop state and county infrastructure, which has provide to be effective. The Commission played a key role in the establishment of the National Platform for Peace and Reconciliation (NPPR) and in opening up space for wider engagement in the peace process. The main achievement of NPPR was to provide space to CSOs, at a time when there was no space to discuss key issues related to the peace talks. This is a critical element in a peace process and in this regard the work of CSAC to support the NPPR was effective and enabled CSOs to input into the peace talks in Addis. Building trust and opening channels for dialogue is critical in conflict situations and the support for the Peace Commission and the NPPR were useful and effective in this regard. However the decision to support NPPR in the distribution of grants was not effective and may have been counterproductive as it diverted the NPPR from its core function and changed the perception of the institution. Tag: Challenges Effectiveness Conflict Conflict resolution Peace Building Technical Support |
| 21. | Overall the Commission has struggled to make progress at national level and as a result of outcomes are disappointing and the overall legacy of this work is weak. However it is important to highlight the challenges it faced and to note the progress achieved at county level and through the establishment of the NPPR. The work of the Commission and the NPPR and the lessons learned will be very important in the development of the proposed National Dialogue process and all stakeholders should reflect on this learning and integrate it into the design process. Tag: Challenges Effectiveness Programme/Project Design |
| 22. | The passing of the firearms law (and the fact that this law incorporates state stockpile as well as those in civilian arms control and the ratification of international arms control treaties were significant achievement. CSACs support to the BSSAC was critical to this and the legislation provides a useful framework for future work on arms control including any future DDR and civilian voluntary disarmament processes. However the outbreak of conflict and the escalating violence means that it will be difficult to implement the legislation, and efforts at dissemination and awareness rising had no real impact. So overall this component has not been effective in contributing to improved security in this period. The work at community level on the “demand side” and efforts to reduce the need for weapons is an important element in the overall effort to change the gun culture in SS. This is slow and problematic in the middle of a civil war but could be an effective component in a more stable environment. |
| Recommendations | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Chapter 5 of the peace Agreement (Transitional Justice, accountability, reconciliation and healing) will be a core element of any sustainable peace process in South Sudan and CSAC should engage with and support this process through a twin track approach; building grassroots initiatives and engaging strategically at the national level. |
| 2 | CSAC should put in place strategies to ensure that there is ongoing support, and mentoring of projects implemented in this phase to ensure that they are sustainable, that that they remains conflict sensitive and that there is ongoing support for gender equality and empowerment. |
| 3 | CSAC should examine how it can expand the public dialogue element of the project and increase the geographic reach, the level of engagement and the range of issues being researched and debated. |
| 4 | CSAC should develop strategic partnerships with INGOs/ institutions involved in transitional justice and national dialogue to strengthen its capacity and to ensure that it can effectively engage in and support the National Dialogue and Transitional Justice efforts. |
| 5 | CSAC should strengthen its capacity in political analysis, transitional justice reconciliation and dialogue to enable it to effectively operate at the national level and contribute to the implementation of the agreement. |
1. Recommendation:
Chapter 5 of the peace Agreement (Transitional Justice, accountability, reconciliation and healing) will be a core element of any sustainable peace process in South Sudan and CSAC should engage with and support this process through a twin track approach; building grassroots initiatives and engaging strategically at the national level.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2017/09/15]
Going forward, the Peace and community cohesion project is anchored in chapter 5 of the peace agreement with particular focus facilitating local and community reconciliation; facilitating the national dialogue and working with rule of law colleagues to support the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager, CTA | 2018/12 | Completed | Community dialogue and peace conferences conducted in 5 conflict clusters History | |
| Support local initiatives to facilitate reconciliation and healing with particular focus on women, youth and IDPs
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2018/12 | Completed | local initiatives to facilitate reconciliation and healing with particular focus on women, youth and IDPs were supported History | |
| Support the national dialogue process
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager, Chief Technical Advisor | 2018/12 | Completed | national dialogue process supported History | |
| Coordinate with Rule of Law project to support the commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2019/12 | Completed | Successor project - PaCC collaborates with Access to Justice project on support the commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing History |
2. Recommendation:
CSAC should put in place strategies to ensure that there is ongoing support, and mentoring of projects implemented in this phase to ensure that they are sustainable, that that they remains conflict sensitive and that there is ongoing support for gender equality and empowerment.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2017/09/15]
Going forward, the PACC project project will have an in built capacity strengthening component through twining of national CSOs with International NGOs. Also communities will be equipped with skills and knowledge to address root and trigger causes of conflicts and how to manage conflict triggers to minimize violent conflict in the society.
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undertake and Audit of facilities established. Hand over these infrastructure to government and develop a sustainability plan for their use
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2018/12 | Completed | completed structures were handed over History | |
| Undertake community dialogue and assessment before community interdependent infrastructure and developed
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2019/12 | Completed | All interdependence projects are informed by community assessments History | |
| Support for infrastructure for peace at the national level will focus on reform as demanded by the peace agreement rather than heavy infrastructure support.
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project manager, Chief Technical Advisor | 2019/12 | Completed | Support for infrastructure for peace at the national level focussing on enabling implementation of the revitalised agreement History | |
| Deploy technical and policy advisory services to national counterparts
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Senior UNDP Management | 2019/12 | Completed | Technical support provided to naitonal institutions on an ongoing and need basis History | |
| Build in conflict management and resolution structures into livelihood and interdependent infrastructure
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2019/12 | Completed | Peace building aspects included in all livelihood projects implemented under hte PaCC portfolio History |
3. Recommendation:
CSAC should examine how it can expand the public dialogue element of the project and increase the geographic reach, the level of engagement and the range of issues being researched and debated.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/09/15]
The dialogue will be expanded to cover some of the 5 identified conflict clusters in the PACC project, including the community dialogues that will feed into the national dialogue
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Community dialogue will be undertaken in 50 communities
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager, CTA | 2019/12 | Completed | Community dialogues conducted,and reached over 20,000 people History | |
| Provide support to the national dialogue process, including conducting of peace conference in conflict hot spots and warring communities
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager, CTA | 2018/12 | Completed | ND consultations around the country History |
4. Recommendation:
CSAC should develop strategic partnerships with INGOs/ institutions involved in transitional justice and national dialogue to strengthen its capacity and to ensure that it can effectively engage in and support the National Dialogue and Transitional Justice efforts.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/09/15]
This recommendation is central to managing risk and leveraging the project to optimise impact. Going forward, through the PACC project, more robust partnerships will be developed with diverse partners including INGO
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Improve and maintain the monthly engagement and conversation with the peace actors and particularly encourage the participation of INGOs
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2019/12 | Completed | Engagement of communities on peace conducted on an ongoing basis, especially through inclusive peace committees History | |
| Facilitate the convening of a peacebuilding working group (development partners involved in peacebuilding).
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project manager | 2018/12 | Completed | Development partners engaged through joint field visits, board meetings History | |
| Maintain strong relations with the Steering Committee and Secretariat of the national dialogue, presidential advisors, local administrators, traditional and religious leaders
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager, Chief Technical Advisor | 2018/12 | Completed | The CO has unfettered access to ND secretariat, and the peace architecture of the country. PaCC has maintained strong engagement with office of the vice president, presidential adviser on security, local authorities, traditional leaders and CSOs History | |
| Use the national dialogue task force and working groups meetings to strengthen and expand existing partnerships
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
project manager, chief technical advisor | 2019/12 | Completed | There is an increasing number of partners expressing interest in supporting the ND History |
5. Recommendation:
CSAC should strengthen its capacity in political analysis, transitional justice reconciliation and dialogue to enable it to effectively operate at the national level and contribute to the implementation of the agreement.
Management Response: [Added: 2017/09/15]
Conflict and political economic analysis will form the basis of our intervention, the actors to engage, the intervention area and the result we seek to achieve. These analysis will also help inform our engagement and advocacy
Key Actions:
| Key Action | Responsible | DueDate | Status | Comments | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The implementation of certain strategic and sensitive activities will be preceded by assessment and conflict analysis. For example facilitating local dialogue in some
communities will be preceded by a robust analysis.
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager | 2019/12 | Completed | All dialogues conducted by UNDP are preceded by indepth assessments History | |
| Increase collaboration with UNMISS, UN AFP and other relevant actors to better develop a shared understanding of the context.
[Added: 2017/09/15] [Last Updated: 2019/11/17] |
Project Manager, Chief Technical Advisor | 2018/12 | Completed | UNMISS and UNDP are co-chairs of the UN working group in ND. There is an ongoing strong joined-up analysis and actions between UNMISS, IOM, UNwomen, UNESCO and UNDP on support to the ND and local peacebuilding. A peacebuilding plan has been developed to coordinate and harmonise UN support to local peacebuilding History |