EVALUATION OF THE PEACEBUILDING FUND (PBF) PROJECT PORTFOLIO IN BURUNDI

The Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) was established in 2006 to provide assistance to post-conflict countries to address the most pressing challenges to prevent relapse into conflict. In June 2006, following requests from the Government of Burundi, Burundi was placed on the agenda of the Peacebuilding Commission and the UN Secretary-General declared Burundi eligible to receive support from the PBF. In early 2007 the PBF allocated USD35 million to Burundi to support the consolidation of peace through a process that was jointly managed by the UN Integrated Office in Burundi (BINUB) and the Government of Burundi. This funding covered the first Priority Plan which spanned from 2007 to early 2010. The first Priority Plan in Burundi covered the following four priority areas: Governance and peace (with a focus on democratic governance, elections and strengthening of peace and social cohesion through the role of youth and women); Rule of law in the security sector (with a focus on quartering and professionalizing the National Defense Forces, building the capacity of the National Police and disarmament of civil populations; Justice, human rights and reconciliation (with a focus on strengthening the judiciary, establishing a Human Rights Commission and the national ownership of the reconciliation process); Land issues (with a focus on resettling the returnees and resolution of land disputes). Eighteen projects were funded by the first tranche. In addition to these 18 projects, the PBF also funded two short term projects through its emergency window (the Immediate Response Facility - IRF) for a total of USD2 million. An independent evaluation of the first tranche of PBF funding to Burundi and all its projects was undertaken in March 2010. The overall conclusion was that “despite the challenges, the PBF still made some important contributions to peace consolidation in Burundi and improved the relationships between the UN and the Government of Burundi, as well as between selected individuals within the Government of Burundi and Burundian civil society”. An important factor highlighted by the evaluation was that PBF provided support to projects that other partners believed to be too risky, hence filling important gaps and catalyzing funding of follow-up activities.The first PBF tranche was allocated to Burundi at a time when the capacity for both national and international institutions to deliver sustainable services to the population remained relatively weak. Moreover, the relationship between the UN and the Government was somewhat strained. All this meant that both the UN and the Government experienced a steep learning curve and invested a lot of time in the PBF process. The evaluation found that the individual projects varied significantly in their effectiveness. Some of the key positive achievements were:

Duties and Responsibilities

Evaluation scope:  The evaluation will have a broad scope and will consider the overall performance of PBF support from 2007 to 2013, including any changes between Phase 1 and Phase 2 and the lessons from the first independent evaluation. Importantly, the evaluation will not re-visit in detail/ re-assess the performance of individual projects funded under the phase and already evaluated as part of the previous evaluation in 2011. Instead, this evaluation will analyze the evidence of cumulative results achievements over the total time period of both PBF tranches.  The scope of the evaluation can be broken down into four components. Evaluation of impact of entire PBF portfolio of support to Burundi The evaluation will examine the effect of the entire portfolio of projects funded by PBF, under the first and the second phases of PBF support and as emergency (IRF) initiatives, in order to assess the PBF’s overall contribution to the building and consolidation of peace in Burundi. The broad questions to be answered are as follows (and will need to be adapted by the Team Leader):  Relevance To what extent did the PBF respond to urgent funding needs and/ or peace relevant gaps? To what extent did the PBF projects complement each other and have a strategic coherence of approach? What was the relevance of the proposed ‘theory of change’ for the total PBF Burundi portfolio and the different sector interventions? Effectiveness/ impact: What percentage of total development support/ GoB budget did PBF contribute in the period assessed? To what extent did the PBF support achieve the intended outcomes of the projects and their strategic framework? To what extent the PBF support did: (i) contribute to increased stability and peace in the country, including non-relapse into conflict? (ii) Strengthen the reconciliation/ peaceful co-existence/ social cohesion in Burundi? (iii) help to increase public confidence and trust in state authorities? (iv) lead to socio-economic reintegration of ex-combatants, youths at risk of violence and war victims, as well as to their reconciliation and closure with the war? Sustainability/ownership: How strong is the commitment of the Government and other stakeholders to sustaining the results of PBF support and continuing any unfinished activities? What, if any, catalytic effects did the PBF support in Burundi have (financial and non-financial)?  Efficiency: How fast and responsive has the PBF been to urgent needs and priorities in Burundi? To what extent did PBF support take risks to achieve peacebuilding objectives, especially in areas where other donors were not ready to do so? How efficient was the implementation of the PBF support through 13 PRF projects, 3 IRF projects and 6 implementing UN agencies and how significant were the transaction costs? Overall, did the PBF investments provide value for money? Gender: To what extent were gender considerations mainstreamed throughout the PBF support to Burundi? The evaluation will also assess the relevance, effectiveness and efficiency of PBF’s total contribution to each of the five key areas of support to Burundi, which are outlined below:  Democracy and good governance; Rule of law and security; Justice, human rights and reconciliation; Land issues; Reintegration. Examples of specific questions to be asked under each of the five areas can be made available in the full version of these TORs by emailing Stefan Rummel-Shapiro atrummel-shapiro@un.org. Evaluation of individual PBF projects in Burundi The evaluation will also specifically assess the Reintegration project PBF/BDI/A-9 (Socioeconomic Reintegration) funded under the second phase of PBF support and the following two projects that commenced in the first phase but were completed under the second phase: PBF/BDI/C-1: Support to the establishment of the National Human Rights Commission. With respect to each of these three projects, the evaluation will determine their individual: Relevance (to the Priority Plan/ Strategic Note, the country’s peacebuilding needs and the government priorities in Burundi); PBF/BDI/A-8: Socio-economic reintegration of populations affected by the conflict; Effectiveness (in achieving their outcomes as well as in contributing to peacebuilding); Efficiency (of each project’s outputs to inputs with a focus on value for money and implementation mechanisms); Sustainability/ catalysis; National ownership of the project; Transparency and accountability of the project. Evaluation of PBF management and oversight structures in Burundi  The evaluation will examine the management of the PBF support in order to comment on the overall effectiveness and efficiency of arrangements both in-country and between PBSO/PBF and the Country Team. This includes questions which cover: the synergy between PBSO and PBC; the capacity and the working of the Joint Steering Committee; the capacity and working of the implementing agencies; and the overall strategy and oversight of the PBF support implementation.  Examples of specific questions to be asked can be made available in the full version of these TORs by emailing Stefan Rummel-Shapiro at rummel-shapiro@un.org Key lessons learned and recommendations The evaluation will provide an overview of key lessons and recommendations concerning: The main programming factors of success; The main programming factors of failure; The main implementation/ administration factors of success; The main implementation/ administration factors of failure; The main challenges and ways to address them.  Evaluation methodology/approach  The evaluation will use a participatory approach whereby discussions with and surveys of key stakeholders provide/ verify the substance of the findings. It will build on the findings and lessons from the first evaluation and explore how the achievements found at that time have carried through and how any lessons have been used in the next phase.  The methodology will include but not be limited to: Review of documentation supplied by PBSO and the UN Country Office (and available through MTFO Gateway website; Teleconference and/or meetings with major stakeholders in New York, including PBSO, PBC, MPTF, key UN agencies implementing PBF support in Burundi; Review of monitoring data from the BNUB, RUNOs and JSC and the internal evaluation by the UNCT of the Reintegration project (July 2013); Field visits with interviews of all major stakeholders, partners and beneficiaries. The evaluation team will consist of one senior international peacebuilding evaluator and two national consultants, who will be recruited separately. The international evaluator will be the Team Leader and responsible for the evaluation methodology, the overall quality of and the timely submission of all the deliverables.  The budget for the evaluation will include a maximum of 50 days of work by the Team Leader, out of which there will be up to 25 days of this will be in the field. National consultants will be provided with 25 days each. More detail on specific deliverables and days can be made available in the full version of these TORs by emailing Stefan Rummel-Shapiro at rummel-shapiro@un.org.  This evaluation presents an opportunity to assess PBF’s achievements in a cumulative way and its overall added value to peacebuilding in Burundi. It builds on and continues the work of the first independent evaluation of 2010. The purpose is to: Assess to what extent the PBF envelope of support 2007-2013 has made a sustained impact in terms of building and consolidating peace in Burundi; Assess how relevant, efficient, effective and sustainable the second tranche of PBF support to Burundi has been; Assess to what extent the lessons from the first evaluation were integrated into the second phase of PBF support; assess where the critical remaining peacebuilding gaps in Burundi are; Provide lessons on key success and failure factors.

Competencies

The UN Country Team in Burundi, through UNDP, will be responsible for the recruitment of international and national evaluators. PBSO and BNUB will participate. The Team Leader will have the following competencies: Strong analytical and research skills; Excellent communication skills, including cross-cultural; Ability to plan effectively, prioritize, complete tasks quickly, and demonstrated leadership in managing a team.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:  Masters degree in a relevant area including political science, international development, conflict studies, international law, evaluation or public administration. Expérience:  At least eight years of evaluation experience and the use of evidence-based research tools and methodologies within post-conflict countries and peacebuilding programmes; At least eight years of evaluation experience within post-conflict countries and peacebuilding programmes;        Demonstrated understanding of conflict analysis, conflict drivers, post-conflict recovery and gender issues and governance sector issues; Experience working with government officials, UN system, international development community and people recovering from conflict; Understanding of the 2010 Burundi evaluation and experience with previous PBF evaluations are an asset. Experience working in Africa with a preference for Burundi. Langues:  Fluency in English and French.

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