Rule of Law

Since the 1990s, internationally-supported peacebuilding interventions have become increasingly prominent. Activities focusing on rule of law and security institutions are a key component of this agenda. Despite increasing calls for more rigorous analysis of the impact of peacebuilding interventions, conceptual advances have been limited....

In April 2006, violent clashes relating to artisinal mining resulted in four deaths. In response to this incident and the general increase in tensions and conflicts over resource access and trade, the former Vice-Governor of Katanga, His Excellency Chikex Diemu, requested assistance....

The 'Radio for Peacebuilding' project has three major components – development and adaptation of guidebooks on radio talk show production aimed at Peacebuilding into Urdu and Pashto, training and coaching provided to FM station producers and presenters to host radio talk shows on Peacebuilding and finally production of talk shows using the common ground approach....

As part of the multi-country Governance and Transparency Fund (GTF) program funded by UKAID, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) in Burundi implemented a three month project from June until September 2011 in support of its overall programmatic goal: to promote inclusive, effective and responsible participation in a process of social transformation toward a fair and equal society in Burundi. The goal was supported by the following key objective: Promote constructive exchange and dialogue between and among Burundian youth from different political parties and political leaders about governance issues, particularly political manipulation of youth and its resulting violence, with a view to encouraging peaceful cohabitation. ...

Practitioners and scholars interested in legal and judicial reform are becoming increasingly interested in finding better ways of assessing the performance of legal systems and the success of reform projects. The greater use and greater sophistication of performance indicators is generally a development to be welcomed....

The findings from this manual will assist in identifying legal and judicial reform needs and areas where further diagnosis may be warranted. ...

Although the current rule-of-law promotion fi eld is still expanding as it approaches the end of its second decade, it still faces a lack of knowledge at many levels of conception, operation, and evaluation. ...

The Children’s Voices, a UNICEF co-funded project, was established at the first national-level DDR working group, the Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups (CAAFAG) Working Group. The project aimed to provide a platform for children and youth’s voices in the transition to peace so as to prevent the further manipulation of youth to violence....

Search for Common Ground (SFCG), has been working in Nepal since February 2006, with support from the European Commission, UNICEF, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the World Bank. Using media and community-based activities, SFCG aims to foster the participation of key sectors of the population in Nepal in the peacebuilding process, with a particular focus on youth. In this context, SFCG conducted two-year programmatic evaluation to assess the outcomes, successes and shortcomings of their youth in peace building and community decision making project activities. ...

Community radio stations face several obstacles that threaten both their operations and engagement in democratic development.  However, there are models of successful community radios in Liberia, and upon closer inspection there is evidence of long-term planning, accountability mechanisms and innovative management strategies.  There are programs aimed at attracting community revenue and local advertisers, station managers who have identified alternative resources for capacity building, and national networks created for advocacy.  This case study, carried out by Search for Common Ground in February 2009, explores exactly how these community radios are sustaining themselves, thereby revealing how the  appropriate interventions aimed at increasing community radio’s stability can be identified and their growth incorporated into the development agenda....

CRS began the Globally-Accepted Indicators (GAIN) Initiative in June 2008 to strengthen indicator practice across sectors. Globally-Accepted Indicators are those that CrS and the global development community generally consider to be appropriate and effective for project monitoring and evaluation....

This book is based on the proceedings of a workshop on Methods and experiences of Evaluating Democracy Support, organized by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and held in April 2006. The main aim of the workshop was to explore ways in which existing methods and techniques of evaluating democracy support deal with the most important problems, such as the challenges of causality and attribution....

As a response to the effects of the post-election violence in Kenya in December 2007, Search for Common Ground (SFCG) and Media Focus on Africa (MFA) developed and produced a TV and radio drama, The Team – an episodic series which asks a central question: can Kenyans find ways to put the past behind them in order to have a better future? The series presents a microcosm of Kenyan society in which members of a fictional football team, who come from different ethnic groups and social classes, are challenged to overcome their fears and biases so that they can see one another as individuals not as members of “the other.” The central metaphor for the players – and for Kenya – is: If they do not cooperate, they will not score goals, and they will lose....

This external evaluation was conducted in October 2010 at the end of the two-year “Promoting locally-driven transformation and collaborative action in Burundi” project funded by the United States Agency for International Development. The project aimed to promote constructive political dialogue between and among parliamentarians and their constituents on issues of local and national concern, and foster dialogue and collaborative approaches to conflict between returnees and residents in return zones....