War Affected Populations and CDD

Designing demand-driven programs to serve war-affected populations

Objective of Study

Gain a better understanding of what design features World Bank demand-driven projects have used to best serve war affected populations (returning IDP, refugees, ex-combatants, war widows and orphans and other affected groups).

Provide a menu of options to TTLs and other partners interested in designing demand-driven projects that serve war affected populations and communities.

Projects Serving War-affected Populations

The World Bank external database captures 174 projects serving conflict affected areas.

Of these 34 have some elements of a demand-driven project.

10 of these projects were analyzed for the purpose of this study.

Overview of Projects Serving Conflict Areas

Number of World Bank Projects involving Conflict Countries by Region

56 59

916

10

24

-

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Africa ECA SAR LAC MENA EAP

Conflict

Projects Serving War-affected Populations by Sector

Sector Breakdown– Demobilization and Reintegration – 5%– Community Infrastructure Reconstruction – 36%– Macroeconomic Stabilization – 17%– Employment Creation/PW Reconstruction – 3%– HIV/AIDS – 2%– Other (Mostly Sector-specific) – 37%

Growth in # Projects Serving War-affected Populations

World Bank Projects Serving War-affected Populations

8

58

108

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

1990 - 1994 1995 - 1999 1999 - 2004

# o

f P

roje

cts

Project Sample Analyzed

– Colombia – Magdalena Medio Regional Development Project– Angola – Post Conflict Social Recovery Project – Eritrea Emergency Reconstruction Program– Rwanda – Community Reintegration and Development Project– Sierra Leone – National Social Action Project– Kosovo – Community Development Fund – Macedonia – Community Development Project– Afghanistan – National Community Empowerment Program– Sri Lanka – Northeast Irrigated Agriculture Project– East Timor – Third Community Empowerment and Local

Governance Program

Categories of War-affected Populations

Ex-combatants (adults and children; rebels and government)

Internally Displaced People (IDPs) Returning Refugees Population that stayed Vulnerable groups – widows, orphans,

disabled, elderly, excluded ethnic groups

Characteristics of War-affected Areas/Populations Served

Destroyed or debilitated social infrastructure (Schools, Health Posts, Roads)

Agriculture stalled, due to abandonment, mines, lack of access to inputs or markets; industry

High unemployment, due to destruction or abandonment of industry

Loss of basic households assets (land, house, cooking utensils, clothes, tools, etc.)

Characteristics of War-affected Areas/Populations Served

Psychologically and physically traumatized population

Destroyed social fabric – lack of trust and cohesion

High levels of poverty and extreme poverty Children and youth who have lost several

years of schooling Malnourished and in poor health

Types of Interventions – Community Level

Organization of democratically-elected and representative community councils

Participatory community planning – multi-sectoral plans – block grant approach (Afghanistan, Angola, Rwanda)

Socio-economic infrastructure Social services projects targeting vulnerable

groups (Kosovo and Macedonia)

Types of Interventions – Community Level

Productive activities (agriculture, micro-enterprise, etc.)

Capacity-building for community-level associations (needs assessment, project identification, planning, implementation and management.)

Promotion of social cohesion – within community and among communities

Types of Interventions – Regional and Municipal Levels

Capacity building for local government to be more responsive to demand from communities – promotion of decentralized model – often building democratic forms of local government from the bottom up (East Timor, Rwanda, Afghanistan).

Projects serving multiple communities and municipalities or districts.

Targeting Strategies Used

Geographic targeting of most affected regions (Angola, Rwanda)– Selection criteria included:– Security and accessibility– Presence of local government authority and

willingness to participate– Extent of war damage to community infrastructure– Number of returning ex-combatants, IDPs, and

refugees

Targeting Strategies Used

– Poverty and Conflict Affected (Kosovo and Macedonia) - to ensure equity across regions

Allocations made to regions based upon following criteria:– Population size– Level and intensity of poverty– Unemployment rate– Number of persons displaced from each region– Number of damaged houses

Targeting Strategies Used

Allocations within regions based upon following criteria:

– State of physical and social infrastructure– Presence of vulnerable or marginalized groups– Presence of ethnically mixed communities– Under-funded communities– Community capacity to plan– Community commitment level– Level of interest of municipal government in

supporting recurrent costs

Targeting within Communities to Ensure Inclusion of more Vulnerable

Ear-marked set-aside for mixed and minority communities affected by the conflict and vulnerable groups (e.g. widows and disabled) (Kosovo)

Community Clusters of 20 families to elect representative to Community Development Council and as framework for community-wide consultations (Afghanistan)

Separate forum for women to express priorities (Afghanistan)

Targeting within Communities to Ensure Inclusion of more Vulnerable

At least half of the project applications must come from women’s groups (East Timor)

Targeted social mobilization and communication campaigns to vulnerable groups (Rwanda)

Increased block grant to communities that involved IDPs and returning refugees in project planning (Afghanistan)

Role of Community-based Organizations (CBOs)

Community needs assessment, project identification and prioritization, planning, implementation, and M&O.

In-kind and cash contributions. Mechanism for rebuilding social cohesion – getting

former enemies to identify and plan a mutually beneficial activity

Mechanism for creating demand for better services from local government.

Role of Local Government

Heavy emphasis on building a democratic, responsive and transparent local government through capacity-building in social mobilization, participatory needs assessment, local planning, budgeting, financial management, procurement, maintenance, etc. (Afghanistan, Rwanda, East Timor, Sierra Leone)

Projects used as a vehicle to promote decentralization.

Role of Central Government

National level Project Management Unit affiliated with a Ministry to coordinate activities nation-wide – in some cases projects are approved at this level (Angola, Rwanda)

National Steering Committee – nexus for involvement of other sectors

Project often includes sub-offices at a sub-national level

Role of NGOs

In most projects, NGOs have only a minor role. In one case, the project management unit is an NGO,

created for that purpose (Kosovo). Most common role for NGOs – facilitators or suppliers

of training, technical assistance to communities and, in some cases, local government (Afghanistan).

NGOs as intermediaries between government and community organizations due to weakness of local government (Angola).

How do these projects Empower War-Affected Communities/Populations?

Gives them a voice in the reconstruction of their own community. Gives them access to rehabilitated community assets – schools,

health posts, water points – that will improve their future prospects.

Revitalizes their income generating assets (e.g. Irrigation systems in NE Sri Lanka).

Builds their capacity to negotiate with high levels of government. Stabilizes their lives and allowing for gradual recovery from their

past traumas.

Recommendations

Target the whole community - all have been affected in one way or another, while earmarking funds for most vulnerable households including orphans, former child soldiers, widows, disabled, etc.

Use the block grant approach and finance community plans, not just projects.

Pay extra attention to building representative community committees that involve all segments of the population – these are mechanisms for rebuilding social cohesion and preventing future conflict.

Use this program to promote decentralization and build a democratic form of local government from the bottom up.

Recommendations – (…continued)

Give bonus points or extra money for projects that target particularly vulnerable members of the community (Afghanistan – higher per capita for communities concerned with vulnerable groups, IDPs, and returning refugees).

Invest heavily in capacity-building of communities, local government.

Be patient – participatory processes take time, especially when involving war-affected and other vulnerable groups, but the results will be more sustainable.