Lessons from UN Support to Conflict Affected Countries

Upon invitation by the evaluation department of Norad, the seminar, which was held in Oslo 22 May 2013, comprised presentations from different UN organizations, including United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and the Peacebuilding Support Office (PBSO).

VIDEO: See the seminar again - from the opening to closing remark.

Policy relevant lessons:

• Results have been achieved in many conflict affected countries and areas. Civilians have been protected, stability strengthened, and (government) systems put in place. It is possible to track and report on these achievements via evaluations.
• Results have been slow and are more doubtful in some cases, and in particular when it comes to security and justice sector reform, specifically during processes of disarmament, demobilization and reintegration.
• Further engagement between UNDP, DPKO, OCHA; DPA and other participants are needed at the start of integrated missions.
• There is a lack of evaluations that focus on the cumulative or overall effects of UN peace building interventions, and how this affects the lives of those concerned.

Learning points for UN organisations:

• Understanding of actual dynamics of each conflict is often weak. Conflict analysis should play a larger role both in programming, monitoring and evaluation.
• Conflict sensitivity and the ‘Do No harm’ principle are crucial, but not always sufficiently addressed in the programmes and projects evaluated.
• There is (still) insufficient coordination and cooperation between UN actors in many countries.
• There are particular challenges regarding coordination of humanitarian, civil and military interventions.
• On the ground presence and neutrality of the UN is highly valued
• Learning from experiences across organizations and country offices remains a challenge
• There is a lack of evaluations that focus on the cumulative or overall effects of UN peace building interventions, and how this affects the lives of those concerned.

Evaluation lessons:

• Specific challenges in conducting evaluations in conflict, post-conflict and countries in transition settings include the lack of historical data, non-linear causal relationships, emergent nature of the work and the local conditions, but it is still possible to conduct meaningful evaluations.
• There is room for more cooperation, also on evaluations, e.g. joint assessments followed later by joint evaluations.
• The management in donor- and UN agencies have a responsibility to use evaluations to inform policies and practice.
• There is need for more discussion to and explore contribution and attribution of observed changes.
• The priorities between objectives for evaluations are worth more consideration: accountability for results, improved performance or knowledge building and -sharing?