Community Recovery and Livelihoods Project in the DRC
“Tufaidike Wote”
RFA #SOL-623-11-000031
Technical Proposal
Date: September 15, 2011
Closing Time: 8:00 AM
Prime Applicant: CARE
Partners: International Alert (Alert) and the Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO)
Submitted to:
Ms. Linda McElroy
Regional Agreement Officer
Office of Acquisition and Assistance (OAA)
U.S. Agency for International Development
Nairobi, Kenya
Email: LMcElroy@usaid.gov
Copy Submitted to:
Mr. Ketan Sood
Email: KSood@usaid.gov
Ms. Salome Bamaka-Safi
Email: SBamaka@usaid.gov
Submitted by:
CARE DRC
Av. Colonel Mondjiba 149
Kinhasa - Ngaliema
Contact:
Yawo Douvon
Country Director
Phone: +243.99.216.0141
Email: yawo.douvon@co.care.org
This application includes data that should not be disclosed outside the U.S. Government and shall not be duplicated, used, or
disclosed – in whole or in part – for any purpose other than to evaluate this application. If, however, a grant is awarded to this
applicant as a result of – or in connection with – the submission of this data, the U.S. Government shall have the right to
duplicate, use, or disclose the data to the extent provided in the resulting grant. This restriction does not limit the U.S.
Government’s right to use information contained in this data if it is obtained from another source without restriction. The data
subject to this restriction are contained in the CARE Technical Proposal, Budget, Budget Narrative, NICRA and Financial
Statements.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of Acronyms
Executive Summary
Part I: Techncial Proposal
A. Background Knowledge and Overall Strategy .............................................................. 1
B. Management and Staffing……………………………………………………………………………………………15
C. Collaboration and Leveraged Resources..................................................................... 19
D. Gender ..................................................................................................................... 19
E. Monitoring and Evaluation Plan ................................................................................ 20
F. Institutional Capacity and Past Performance .............................................................. 22
G. Annexes
Annex 1: Part II- CVs of Key Personnel
Annex 2: Part III- First Year Work Plan
Annex 3: Part IV- Past Performance References
Annex 4: Part V- Performance Monitoring Plan
Annex 5: Part VI - Implementing and Strategic Partners
LIST OF ACRONYMS
ADA: Agricultural Development Adviser
ADEPAE : Action pour le Développement Endogène et
la Pais
ADF/NALU: Allied Democratic Forces/National Army
for the Liberation of Uganda
CARE: Cooperative for Assistance and Relief
Everywhere
CARG: Rural Agricultural Management Committees
CBO: Community Based Organization
CDR: Community Driven Reconstruction
CGA: Community Governance Adviser
CLER: Local committees for road maintenance
CLPC: Comités Locaux Permanents de Conciliation
CLPD: Local Committee for Peace and Development
CoP: Chief of Party
CODESA: Comité de Santé
COPA: Comité de Parents d’Elèves
Cordaid: Catholic Organisation for Relief and
Development Aid
CSO: Civil Society Organization
CRS: Catholic Relief Services
CTC: Joint Technical Committee
DFID: Department for International Development
DRC: Democratic Republic of the Congo
DSF: Dynamique Synergie des Femmes
DVDA: Government Access Road Service
EU: European Union
FAT : Forum des Amis de la Terre
FAO: Food & Agricultural Organization
FARDC: DRC National Army
FDLR: Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
FNL: Front National de Libération
FPJC : Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo
FRPI : Front de Résistance Patriotique de l’Ituri
GDRC: Government of Democratic Republic of Congo
GRF: Groupe de Réflexion sur les Questions Foncières
KM : kilometers
HIV: Human immune-deficiency virus
IDP: Internally Displaced Person
IGA: income generating Activity
IFDP: Innovation et Formation pour le Développement
et la Paix
IfP: Initiative for Peace Building
INGO: International non-government organization
IRC: International Rescue Committee
ISSSS: International Security and Stabilization Support
Strategy
LNGO: local non-government organization
M&E: Monitoring and Evaluation
MoFA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MSI: Management Systems International
MYAP: Multi Year Assistance Programme
N2: National Road 2
NGO: Non Government Organisation
NRC: Norwegian Refugee Council
OCHA: Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
PACDEV: Dutch Consortium for Reconstruction
PNC: Congolese National Police
PMP: Performance Monitoring Plan
PRA: Participatory Rural Appraisal
PSCRP: Promoting Stabilization and Community
Reintegration Project in Eastern DRC
SENASEM: National Service of Seeds
SGBV: sexual and gender-based violence
SSU: MONUSCO Stabilization Support Unit
STAREC: Stabilization and Reconstruction Plan for
War-Affected Zones
TCT: Technical Coordination Team
TPO: Dutch NGO for psychosocial support
UK: United Kingdom
UN: United Nations
UNDP: UN Development Program
UNICEF: United National Children’s Fund
UN-HABITAT: United Nations Agency for Human
Settlements
UNHCR: United National High Commission for
Refugees
UNSCR: UN Security Council Resolution
USG: United States Government
USAID: United States Agency for International
Development
VSLA: Village Savings and Loan Association
WASH: water sanitation and hygiene
WFP: World Food Program
ZOA: Dutch NGO for Refugee Care
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Tufaidike Wote (Win/Win) Project Consortium composed of CARE, FAO and International Alert has come
together to provide a combined response to the problems of poverty and instability in Eastern Congo. By addressing
the interlocking underlying conflict factors of resource conflicts, identity conflicts and power conflicts, the Tufaidike
Wote project aims to enhance stable socio-economic recovery in 35 communities in three provinces that may
include Ituri District, North and South Kivu Provinces over a four year period. 120,000 people will benefit directly of
the project and an additional 120,000 will benefit from community projects and improved livelihood. There will be a
special focus on improving the lives of vulnerable women by addressing their primary needs through agriculture and
savings groups and their secondary needs by increasing their contribution to public life.
The consortium developed a theory of change for the project proposing that peace and stability are fostered by
creating spaces, capacities and opportunities for all groups in targeted communities in eastern DRC to participate
in a combination of reconciliation and recovery activities. The project uses an innovative combined communitydriven approach to support three project pillars of peacebuilding, governance and livelihoods. Crosscutting support
will be given on the themes of inclusion (especially of women), conflict sensitivity, good governance principles and
participatory monitoring and learning. The intended results in the targeted communities are to develop or
strengthen conflict prevention and management capacity (for instance 20% of conflict resolved and/or prevented),
strengthen citizens’ participation in good governance (for instance 35 capacity building plans carried out) and
improve livelihoods (for instance 60% increase in household revenue on a sustainable basis).
With strategic support from the Tufaidike Wote lead implementers, the project will prioritize sustainability and
emphasize local capacity building by working with and through local partners who will support community structures
(peace committees, community development committees and farmers’ groups). These structures will work together
through a Community Forum in which local leaders and officials will participate and discuss matters of concern. The
promotion of trust and shared responsibility between citizens and state authorities is a project goal that will be
reinforced through the leadership and example set by CARE, FAO and International Alert.
A. BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND OVERALL STRATEGY
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
Nine years after the signing of the Global and All-Inclusive Peace Agreement, and despite increased security in some
areas, large populations in Eastern DRC are still struggling to find the security, dignity and resources to raise their
families with hope and opportunity. Levels of poverty are still very high (73% of households in North Kivu, 85% in
South Kivu).1 There are twice as many poor women as men and the income disparity between men and women is
more than two-fold ($189 PPP as opposed to $410 PPP).2
Several armed groups remain active in some areas, resulting in periodic episodes of insecurity that lead to
displacement of people. The most affected areas in 2011 have been Masisi, Lubero, Walikale, Fizi, Shabunda and
Kalehe and some areas of Beni.3 Very often this security situation is volatile, and episodes of displacement return or
instability may happen in neighboring areas or even in the same area. They are complex to predict or explain, and an
array of interlinked causes, covering illegal mining, ethnic identity, political power or foreign and local economical
interests, remain at the base of a conflict that has shaped a whole generation of Congolese people. The ISSSS
Situational Assessment Report from July 2011 states that trends of the two provinces of North Kivu and Ituri district
are still not promising. In general, an outside 40 - 50 kilometers (km) radius of the district capital of Bunia and the
provincial capitals of Goma and Bukavu, there is widespread and serious insecurity in large pockets of territory. As an
example, at least 80% of the territory of Walikale in North Kivu is still entirely outside state control and armed
groups effectively reign supreme there. Likewise the reach of the state’s authority is less and less effective outside
the same radius. In North Kivu, parallel institutions exist particularly in Masisi. Return, reintegration and recovery is
generally considered problematic by the ISSSS report which is often used by the international community in its
planning. The report also responds to continued insecurity and weak state control by recommending that an
approach which operates within and then seeks to extend the zones of ‘permissive’ activity with area-based
activities will be the most effective. Interestingly, the exception to this is a proposed ‘light footprint’ model which is
considered appropriate for local conflict resolution capacities.
The return of refugees and IDPs is a strong indicator of and contributor to increased levels of security. Yet the
expected return of both refugees and IDPs is already fuelling increased conflict over land in some areas and – in the
1
UNDP Profile resume par province March 2009
2009 Human Development report
3 CARE internal strategic planning document July 2011
2
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CARE
Community Recovery & Livelihoods Project in DRC
RFA# SOL-623-11-000031
case of Congolese refugees returning from Rwanda to North Kivu - giving rise to (politically manipulated) fears
regarding the national identity of the returnees, which feed both local and provincial power struggles. While the
state apparatus in parts of the region has been strengthened, it is still far from being able to deliver minimal services
to the population, nor is it capable of mediating disagreements, facilitating consensual and peaceful policymaking, or
preventing violent conflicts arising over a number of issues between different social groups.
Despite enormous agricultural opportunity in the DRC, production levels are in steady decline; markets are increasingly
inaccessible due to impassable roads, insecurity and illegal check points; and over 75% of the total population is
chronically undernourished4 or food insecure. In less than 10 years, Congolese agricultural exports plummeted from
US$334 million in 1995 to only US$4.3 million in 2003. Even though the agriculture sector employs the highest proportion
of population (approximately 50 million people), the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (GDRC) has only
allocated 2% of its budget to agricultural development. Moreover, many of the people considered “employed” in the
agricultural sector are not earning a living from this activity, but essentially securing subsistence and are not formalized
farmers or herders per say. Underlying food unavailability and poverty is causally linked to the following factors: lack of
agricultural infrastructure, lack of capital, low productivity/yields, challenging land access (especially for female farmers),
soil degradation, underdeveloped farmer skills and capacities, weak organizational capacity, significant loss of production
(up to 30-40%), minimal incentives to sell farm products as well as disincentives such as illegal taxation. As a result, many
farmers are net-food purchasers (about 68% of income is spent on food).The situation is further complicated in areas with
military presence as communities seek to avoid targeting by maintaining low levels of organization, have no place to store
crops for fear of looting, and are often subject to illegal taxation from militias or the Police National Congolese (PNC).
Continued violence, human rights abuses and impunity wreak deep and widespread suffering at all levels,
particularly for women. Endemic gender discrimination and all forms of violence against women worsened by war
were stated as the principal contributing factors when Thomas Reuters Foundation scored the DRC the second worst
place to live as a woman in 2011, behind Afghanistan.
Yet against this broad picture we know there have been gains, as reflected in a relative (but not irreversible) increase
in security in many areas since 2002. 260 km of roads have been rehabilitated and 85 administrative buildings have
been constructed.5 There are slowly increasing numbers of spontaneous returns in many areas (even though as
noted there are new population displacements too). Particularly at local level, the interventions of both international
actors and national civil society groups have improved peoples’ livelihoods and strengthened social cohesion.
Research on the underlying causes of conflict has noted the recurrence of three primary conflict factors: resource
conflicts (including mining, land ownership and use at the local level), identity conflicts (especially regarding ethnicity
and gender), and power conflicts (especially regarding governance and security). Their complex interrelationship
needs to be continuously re-examined on a regular basis in each local context in order to correctly identify entry
points to build a combined response of peace, good governance and development. For example, resolving a land
conflict cannot merely be seen as a judicial matter, but must also be seen as an existential matter, since land access
and ownership is intrinsically related to power and identity.6 Though it takes different forms in different places, in
terms of political economy, there is a structural link in much of Eastern DRC between claims to land ownership by
ethnic communities, and claims to political power. This link is exploited in the inflammatory discourses around
‘indigenous’ inhabitants and ‘foreigners’ particularly in areas of return.
The gender dimension of identity is not any less significant, as gender is a core aspect of people’s identity and men
and women’s vulnerability to violent conflict is partly determined by gender relations. Many years of conflict have
profoundly affected gender norms and relations in DRC. For example, there has been a clear modification in
women’s economic role in the household, especially in female headed households. At the same time, the conflict has
prevented men from assuming the traditional male responsibility of supporting and protecting their wife and
children. In a context which already places women in an exceedingly submissive position in the household, the
conflict’s effect on gender norms has tipped the balance to enable and then normalize widespread sexual and
gender based violence (SGBV).
Existing programming mechanisms to respond to the complex environment described above are frequently
inadequate and sectoral interventions are often not based on a broad and deep understanding of the social, political
and economic context, without which ‘one-size fits all’ interventions invariably fail. The combined understanding of
CARE, International Alert and FAO of the causes of instability and poverty in the region, as well as our experience in
addressing these causes has taught us that sustainable strategies for maximizing the opportunities for peace and
minimizing the threats of violence in local communities must go well beyond the still prevailing humanitarian and
peacekeeping response, to focus on community-based strategies which address the underlying local causes.
Sustainable stabilization requires concerted action to promote reconciliation between individuals and groups,
4
2010 UNDP Human Development Index
International Security and Support Stabilization Strategy. Quarterly Report. April-June 2011.
6 Haki na Amani and Pax Christi: Analysis of the resurgence of land conflict in Ituri since 2000. 2009
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Community Recovery & Livelihoods Project in DRC
RFA# SOL-623-11-000031
remove the blockages to improving livelihoods, strengthen the community’s voice in structures of governance and
reach mutual commitments between citizens and decentralized state actors. This project aims to make such an
impact in 70 communities in Ituri District and North and South Kivu Provinces.
OVERALL STRATEGY: A NEW COMBINED COMMUNITY-DRIVEN APPROACH
Led by CARE, FAO and International Alert have formed a dynamic consortium that adds value to each organization’s
sustained commitment (a combined total of nearly 50 years) to developing quality program responses, by sharing
and enhancing their work through an integrated, multi-sectoral program based around three pillars: peacebuilding,
governance and livelihoods. The consortium proposes the Swahili name Tufaidike Wote which means Win/Win or
“Working Together for Everyone’s Benefit” for this project. The key elements of the program strategy, and its
distinct added value, are an innovative combined community driven approach, with strong cross-cutting technical
support (on gender, conflict sensitivity, good governance principles and participatory research and learning); and
complementary activities of the three project pillars that serve to strengthen and reinforce each other. The activities
of the pillars themselves draw on each organization’s proven track record: Alert’s specialization in alternative
methods of conflict resolution; CARE’s robust experience in community governance, economic livelihood activities,
such as the Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) methodology, and women’s empowerment; and FAO’s
respected value chain approach and depth of knowledge in local agriculture development. Local implementing
partners will be carefully selected local civil society organizations (CSOs) who have strong links with community
structures and support the goal of strengthening community – state linkages. The local partners will be supported by
a strong and well-coordinated project structure and management team.
The project goal is to contribute to peace and stability in Eastern DRC at the local level. The overall strategy to
achieve this is a response to the interlinked problems of instability and poverty which combines peacebuilding with
good governance and improved livelihoods. According to our background analysis the combined response is critical
for impact. For example, on the one hand conflict sensitivity can ensure that governance is inclusive and economic
opportunities are equitable; on the other hand, socio-economic development becomes a positive incentive for
peace, they thereby create a reinforcing cycle of activity. Based on our shared experiences and understanding, CARE,
FAO and International Alert have articulated our theory of change: Peace and stability are fostered by creating
spaces, capacities and opportunities for all groups in targeted communities in Eastern DRC to participate in a
combination of reconciliation and recovery activities.
The Combined Community Driven Approach
The activities of the three project pillars – peacebuilding, good governance and improved livelihoods - have been
designed to intersect as far as possible in order to give leverage to one another and address the underlying causes of
conflict in Eastern DRC in a way which will deliver the required community change and project goal.
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Community Recovery & Livelihoods Project in DRC
RFA# SOL-623-11-000031
Figure 1: Tufaidike Wote Project Combined Community Driven Approach
3. Creating public
goods and promoting
popular action for
peace Community
supervision of jointly
agreed public
infrastructure
projects strengthens
good governance and
promotes
reconciliation
1. Managing land conflicts
in order to increase access
to land for improved
agriculture Stability is
necessary for investment,
and vice versa: shared
economic interests
promote dialogue and
reconciliation
Prevention and
resolution of
conflicts
Strengthening
citizen
participation in
good
governance
Improved
livelihoods
2. Supporting alternative
livelihoods activities Active
citizenship is a prerequisite for
accountable governance which
enables private economic
initiative
Key:
Squares
Circles
Central triangle
Cross-cutting
themes
Promoting
inclusion,
especially of
women,
making good
governance
principles a
reality,
conflict
sensitivity
and early
warning,
participatory
monitoring
and learning
Key intersecting project activities
Project Components IR1, 2 and 3
Cross-cutting supporting themes (based on lessons learned)
Key intersecting project activities
1. Managing Land Conflicts in order to increase access to land for improved agriculture
This intersection is important because the crucial starting point for any improved agricultural activity is access to
land. In many places land will only be secured through resolving local land conflicts. The disputes commonly take one
of several forms: between family members; over succession including between a widow and her late husband’s
family; over boundaries between plots; as a result of land grabbing; through the illegal sale of family or community
land; between land owners and squatters; or as a result of gifting or other unrecorded transfers. The existence of
IDPs, refugees and returnees in all the project areas exacerbates the likelihood of these conflicts. Frequently
occurring land used conflicts such as those between farmers and herders will also be addressed.
Our local partners have a very successful track record of resolving disputes over land (three peace committees
supported by our partner Dynamique Synergie des Femmes (DSF) in South Kivu resolved 114 disputes (including land
disputes) between May 2010 and July 2011) and their efforts will be reinforced. Some partners, such as Haki na
Amani and Innovation et Formation pour le Développement et la PaixIFDP, already have tools for land-conflict
resolution available to share, adapt and use.7
7
Guide sur la Résolution des Conflits Fonciers (Haki na Amani, International Alert 2010). IFDP with the support of CordAid uses what they call a
‘socio-therapy approach’ to land conflict resolution.
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Community Recovery & Livelihoods Project in DRC
RFA# SOL-623-11-000031
Building on success: Using ‘sociotherapy’ to resolve community land
conflicts
IFDP approaches land transactions in
terms of their normative and social
dimensions. Combining activities to
encourage the restoration of intercommunity trust via “socio-therapy”
with the development of negotiated
land practices is a key strategy of
IFDP. They establish GRFs (Groupes
de Réflexion sur les Questions
Foncières) which bring together
representatives from the population
and the authorities in collaborative
structures reflecting on land practices
and norms and proposing solutions
to the conflicts affecting people. IFDP
is also one of the lead organizations
in the province-level ‘Land
consultation framework’ where civil
society actors, customary chiefs and
province authorities seek to develop
and agree province-level responses
to land problems.
In Eastern DRC, addressing land issues effectively demands a broad,
integrated, and inter-disciplinary approach,8 including linking to
governance and agricultural livelihoods activities. Community dialogue
and participatory research, which will be undertaken as part of this
program, will situate land conflicts within the broader conflict context,
and peace committees will be assisted to negotiate agreed community
actions to solve these. Where possible and relevant, this will include
negotiations and land planning with customary chiefs, to improve
accountability and transparency in allocation of and use of communityowned land.
2. Supporting alternative livelihood activities
This intersection recognizes the significance of an economic peace
dividend as a strong incentive to preserve and strengthen peaceful
relations; it provides a stake in peace for communities who benefit from
improved livelihoods; and provides ex-combatants and communities
affected by conflict with sources of alternative sources of income. For
economic development to be sustainable and to promote peaceful
relations these activities need to be conflict sensitive and equitable.
Although the overwhelming majority of the community is involved in
agriculture or animal husbandry (75-80%), an important minority, often
including vulnerable groups (such as women, the physically and mentally
handicapped, ex-combatants and returnees) depend on other forms of
livelihood. These alternative forms can sometimes be agriculture-related,
and processing or marketing services by producer groups will be
promoted (see IR3). Our local partners will also manage the organization
of Village Savings and Loan Associations and other income generating
activities for selected groups (see IR3). CARE’s vast experience with
VSLAs in DRC and elsewhere is that the formation of VSLA groups and management of its resources is an effective
means of building the self-confidence of both individual members and the group as a whole which leads to better
participation in community dialogues and in other community governance structures. The VSLA activity is therefore a
key component in strengthening citizens’ participation in governance.
3. Creating public goods and promoting popular action for peace
This intersection brings the community together around managing a common interest and in doing so fostering
strong links between community members and those in authority. At the start of the project each community will
identify two types of priority need and opportunity: those related to increasing the number of public goods in the
community, and at the same time those which will enhance the social conditions for peace in the community (see
IR3 and IR1). A combination of small grants packages on the one hand and community actions for peace on the other
will be facilitated. These mutually reinforcing activities will be managed by community structures as a means of
promoting good governance. The close association of those in authority (local leaders and officials) with the
organization and management of the activities will further extend the application of good governance principles to
strengthen relationships of trust between the population and their leaders.
Key Features of the Combined Community Driven Approach based on Lessons Learned
The combined community driven approach we propose draws on the lessons we have learned from previous
projects, particularly the USAID funded Promoting Stabilization and Community Reintegration Project in Eastern DRC
(PSCRP), and the DFID funded Tuungane project. These projects both used the community driven reconstruction
(CDR) approach, and PSCRP attempted to combine it with a conflict prevention and resolution component. The
combined approach develops the good practices of both CDR and the principles of peacebuilding but also adapts
them out of lessons learned. Key features of the combined community driven approach, based on these lessons
learned in the DRC and elsewhere are:
In relation to peacebuilding:


8
Use of a conflict sensitive approach which goes beyond a ‘do no harm’ approach in anticipating risk and
providing strategies to mitigate conflict broadly in the community.
Use of participatory assessments (such as participatory rural appraisal (PRA)) to identify conflict sensitivity at
the outset of a project.
See Land & Conflict – a Toolkit for intervention, USAID 2005.
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Community Recovery & Livelihoods Project in DRC
RFA# SOL-623-11-000031



Use of priority needs assessments to identify key peace factors (and/or key factors for reducing violence) at
the start of a community process.
Need for regular monitoring of conflict sensitivity to help avoid the temptation to cut corners in relation to
community participation in implementing socio-economic projects. Community participation is an important
element in the community’s ownership of good governance principles and hence the overall implementation
of a project.
Use of a combination of socio-economic activities which provide material benefits to communities with
peacebuilding as a win/win strategy.
In relation to governance:



Election or co-option of community committee members (the latter based on their skills and level of respect
within the community).
Development of training programs for community structures which focus on technical skills and also
attitudes and behaviors. These trainings should be followed up through a learning-by-doing approach.
Development of strategies to strengthen relations between community members and those in positions of
influence and authority. These strategies are essential for sustainability and strong impact.
In relation to peacebuilding and governance:


Emphasizing good governance principles of participation, accountability and transparency
Inclusion of vulnerable and marginalized groups especially women.
In relation to peacebuilding and socio-economic recovery:

Combining a material impact (which increases the number of community goods and strengthens community
structures) with a behavioral impact (which builds social cohesion across the community).
In relation to implementation:




Use of a partnership approach (with local CSOs). This approach must pay attention to training local partners
in the combined community driven approach and getting their buy-in to it at the start of the project (such as
developing a code of conduct with them).
Flexibility in allocating the financial package to each community in order to respond to communities’ real
priority needs.
Applying a continuous context analysis so that community design and implementation responds better to
varying and volatile local situations. One example of this is determining community size according to real
geography and not to an artificially fixed population size.
Facilitation of exchange visits, especially between performing and underperforming community structures
and groups. This is an effective way in which to use local knowledge to build capacity where gaps exist.
Where there are motivational or organizational related challenges, these visits can promote a healthy sense
of competition which can spur an underperforming group into action.
Project Components
IR 1: Conflict prevention and management capacity is developed or strengthened in targeted communities
Given the weakness of state structures, peacebuilding interventions often focus on non-state institutions which
enjoy a degree of local legitimacy and influence. These institutions favor traditional ideas of reconciliation between
conflicting parties which are linked to community notions of justice. Local peace committees (sometimes traditional
barazas sometimes newly constituted committees)9 use alternative dispute resolution methods in which a
negotiated solution and the restoration of social cohesion are key elements.10
Local partners such as DSF and IFDP in South Kivu, Alpha Ujuvi in North Kivu, and Haki na Amani in Ituri will be
supported by Alert to continue their work with local peace committees. The project will aim at creating or
supporting 35 peace committees (around 1,200 members)11 through training in conflict resolution methods including
socio-therapy, mediation and community dialogue facilitation. The peace committees will continue to resolve many
types of social conflict but as noted a particular area of priority is land related conflicts.
Local peace committees are well aware of the limits of the type of conflict which they can mediate successfully. A
further dimension of this activity will be to reinforce the collaboration with other actors in conflict resolution
particularly state authorities (including traditional and administrative or judicial bodies) and non-state actors such as
UN-HABITAT and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in relation to land conflicts. In addition, peace committees
9
Paix a Petits Pas maps 178 local peace initiatives in North and South Kivu and Ituri many of which support such committees
Paix a Petits Pas, Helene Morvan, International Alert 2010.
11 The exact number will depend on the way they are set up in each selected groupement.
10
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Community Recovery & Livelihoods Project in DRC
RFA# SOL-623-11-000031
will work with community development committees and farmer’s groups in a Community Forum established with
the help of the Tufaidike Wote team in order to promote and practice good governance principles, apply
peacebuilding and conflict sensitivity to activities, and ensure that community-driven projects are responsive to
identified needs.
Activity 1-Mechanisms for conflict prevention and management strengthened:
Capacity assessments and strengthening: Alert will lead capacity and needs assessments with peace committees
and local partners. Once the results are shared with peace committees and the community, the project will develop
and validate capacity building plans designed to strengthen the community’s ability to respond to and resolve
conflicts. The peace committees will receive training and support to strengthen their mediation of local conflicts,
enable them to continuously analyze the conflict context and build their capacity to facilitate community dialogues
on underlying causes of violent conflict. One need already well articulated is to increase knowledge of relevant laws
such as the Code Foncier and the Code de la Famille. In order to ensure cross-cutting synergies, local authorities and
farmers’ groups will also be trained in conflict sensitivity. We plan to train 2,100 community and local partner
members in conflict analysis and context monitoring.
The partner organizations in North and South Kivu and Ituri will meet to exchange experiences and tools, for
instance producing a joint module on land conflict resolution which will be rolled out to the peace committees
across the three provinces.
Support for community conflict resolution and reconciliation: Peace committees will lead appropriate and agreed
community responses to latent or actual conflicts arising. The committees will be supported to convene community
members to discuss and agree actions (in the form of ‘community reconciliation plans’ also linked to development
plans drafted under IR2). We plan to support the elaboration of 35 reconciliation plans. We aim at supporting 2,880
mediation meetings and to monitor 600 recorded mediations.
Weekly mediation meetings hosted by peace committees will further be trained to monitor, record, and analyze
their results. Finally they will be facilitated to organize community dialogues and other actions aimed to reduce the
drivers of conflict and strengthen positive linkages with local administrative, customary and political authorities,
based on good governance principles. In areas of high IDP return, such as Masisi, these conflicts are particularly
complex and the peace committees will collaborate closely with STAREC’s Comités Locaux Permanent de Conciliation
(CLPC)12 and other key actors to reduce the factors which might lead to violence.
Activity 2-Women’s role in conflict management structures and processes increased: A second area of peace
committee activity is the capacity building and inclusion of women in the committees’ management and activities.
Their inclusion in conflict management structures is critical step towards creating more sustainable conflict
resolution and also in improving opportunities for themselves and other marginalized groups. A first step toward
achieving this objective is to provide training to all local project partners on gender sensitivity and diversity. Trainings
will include information on how to use UNSCR 1325 and the GDRC National Gender Plan to promote gender equality
in the community. This knowledge is an important tool for empowering women to claim their rights and roles in
community life. Peace committees will subsequently organize community workshops, meetings, and focus groups to
discuss, analyze and challenge gender stereotypes in a safe space that encourages open and transparent dialogue.
600 women members of peace committees will be actively recruited and trained on leadership, communication, and
advocacy. Local partners and the Tufaidike Wote team will work to support the reorganization of community
structures to ensure democratic and inclusive principles of leadership are upheld.
Activity 3-Community-driven social infrastructure projects promote reconciliation and stability: At the start of the
project each community will decide on its priorities and (depending on whether these plans already exist in the
community) review or develop reconciliation and development plans. Activities to be pursued in a reconciliation plan
might include calling an official or member of the security services to account, addressing a local power conflict, or
encouraging girls to go to school. Activities to be developed by means of a small grants package might include the
rehabilitation of access roads, bridges, water points, solar power for lighting and communications, equipment for
schools and clinics. Each of the 70 targeted communities will benefit from an estimated $20,000 small grants
package. The community development committee will be trained on goods and financial management and the
community forum will oversee overall project management and accountability to the whole population (see details
of these mechanisms below).
IR2: Citizens’ participation in good governance strengthened in targeted communities
Good governance principles are at the heart of the project’s combined response and the application of these
principles in a cross-cutting manner to the other two project components is a prerequisite for sustainable peace and
12
Some peace committee members are members of CLPC
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sustainable development cross-cutting. Good governance is also a project outcome through the practice of
promoting citizens’ participation in the project implementation mechanisms, in specific socio-economic activities
and in activities which strengthen links between citizens and those in authority. The community scorecard described
below is one tool which will be used for this. The practice of good governance also makes reconciliation sustainable
through practicing inclusion and encouraging equitable access to economic opportunities.
In our experience in the selected zones of intervention, often one or more community committees has been
established in the past to oversee a particular project, to identify the community’s needs, or to strengthen local
governance. We will work with existing structures where we can, but we will first request the whole community to
reevaluate their legitimacy and to adopt principles of good governance for their structure and conduct. The project’s
community implementers will be peace committees, development committees and farmers’ groups. This will include
at least 40% women’s participation where possible. After analyzing their capacity and formulating a capacity building
plan, we will accompany these structures and build their capacity through training and a ‘learning by doing’
approach. In this way they will be able to oversee the management of the resource inputs to the community (that is
agricultural inputs, small grants packages, village savings and loans associations and income generating activities).No
community structure will directly handle cash or procurement. Their role will include overseeing bidding processes
with contractors and service providers, authorizing payments by CARE or the local partners to these intermediaries,
and overseeing the recruitment of labor and the quality of work carried out on project sites.
Under this result, the Tufaidike Wote consortium has set aside funding for a rapid response mechanism totaling
$50,600 ($20,000 per year for the first three years of the project). The rapid response mechanism is a designed to
respond to community-based needs such as unpredictable events and conflict mitigation and/or prevention. The
technical advisers of the Tufaidike Wote team have the requisite skills and tools to conduct rapid assessments and
analysis of communities in need of these funds. Rules and criteria for the rapid response mechanism will be
established in the project start-up phase. However, in the event that the security environment deteriorates
conducting to mass emergency, USAID may authorize the implementation of activities that respond to emergency
needs through a revision to the implementation in targeted areas.
Activity 1-Organizational capacity of community-based and civil society organizations strengthened: The Tufaidike
Wote project will conduct an institutional, organizational, and governance assessment of peace committees,
farmers’ groups, community development committees in each community. In addition other types of CBO/CSOs may
be assessed where needed to reinforce project implementation capacity. Capacity building plans will be developed
jointly based on the assessment results and the organizations will be assisted and supported through the
implementation process by the project team. The project will support the implementation of 35 capacity building
plans for CBOs/CSOs. The goal of the capacity building strategy is to ensure that over time these groups will be able
to sustain themselves and become direct recipients of and leading implementers in community development
projects. To facilitate this, information on registration as CBOs will be provided as required.
Activity 2-Citizens’ participation and advocacy through community governance structures improved or developed:
In order for the targeted community groups to be successful, the participation of individual community members, as
citizens of that entity, must be improved. The Tufaidike Wote project will apply a two-pronged approach to meet this
objective. First, community members will be trained in CARE’s community scorecard system and stakeholder analysis
tools. These tools are specifically designed to assist community members in developing transparent and accountable
relationships with community and governance structures that exist. Community members will then participate in the
priority needs assessment, revision or creation of a development plan and preparation of the small grants package.
Once implementation of the grants package has begun, community members will use the scorecard and stakeholder
analysis tool to monitor proper implementation. Around 10 members of the population and 10 members of the
Community Forum will be trained in the scorecard tool. The analysis and reports will be regularly shared with the
community in general assemblies.
Second community structures have the potential to be an important liaison with user groups such as the Comité de
Parents d’Elèves (COPA) Comité de Santé (CODESA) and water committees. They can be a channel for the community
to voice its demand for services, but they can equally assist the chef de groupement to organize community activities
such as ‘salongo.’ Part of strengthening citizens’ participation in good governance is to nurture these dual aspects of
entitlement and obligation amongst committee leaders and community members.
The interface between community structures and local authorities (being put in place through the GDRC’s
decentralization policy) is a lynch pin to stability and recovery. Involving local administrative officials such as chefs de
groupement in supporting and ratifying development plans and other written agreements is just one way of
beginning to establish a ‘social contract’ between citizens and rulers. In other words, it helps take an important step
towards defining rights and duties and in identifying mutual commitments between groups based on principles of
good governance. To nurture these relationships further, the project envisages building on the pilot work carried out
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by Alert in training traditional chiefs and CLPC members in North
Kivu in principles of managing conflict, by inviting local officials in
all groupements of intervention to attend trainings in good
governance and conflict management.
Activity 3-Women’s influence in community-decision making
increased: The Tufaidike Wote partners are committed to gender
equity and empowerment because we believe that women’s
involvement in the public and social sphere will lead to more
effective and sustained change. As such, the project will seek to go
beyond merely ensuring women’s presence in community
structures and spaces for dialogue and work to increase their voice
in decision making processes. In order to do this, trainings for 1,400
women will help improve skills in advocacy, leadership, and
communication. We will work alongside men as partners
demonstrating that cooperation and mutual respect between
genders is a way to yield more effective power and not a means of
transferring it. In addition, the hosting of community dialogues and
creating safe spaces for the discussion and respectful questioning
of social norms, traditions, and behaviors that perpetuate inequity
between men and women is an important strategy for change.
IR3: Livelihoods in targeted communities improved
The development of agriculture as an income generating activity in
eastern DRC will be the major contributor to reducing poverty and
increasing food security in the long term. The Tufaidike Wote
project aims to reduce one of the major obstacles which is the
security of land tenure, and improve the agricultural value chain in
selected communities so that household revenues increase. The
strategy adopted in each community will depend on the results of a
participatory livelihood, value chain and market assessment
conducted at the start of the project to help understand the
interconnections between different stakeholders in the agricultural
sector and their priorities as well as the priorities of those pursuing
other livelihood activities. This assessment will be accompanied by
a conflict sensitivity exercise to establish the real risks associated
with land tenure and use and agree actions to mitigate them.
Activity 1-Household revenues increased from agricultural
production, processing, and marketing
Building on Success: Land Access to
Returnees in Eastern DRC
Since 2009, FAO has developed an
innovative approach to facilitate land access
to the returnees’ families in Eastern DRC so
they can start agricultural activity. After a
process of public information, consultation
and agreement with the local authorities,
who look for the land available in the
communities, the local partners of
development committees’ sign a contract
with the land owners to facilitate access to
their lands for two to four years.
These farms are usually abandoned or over
used land that is divided in identified plots (3
Acres for green gardening production, 20
Acres for production of staple crops) where
each returnee family is installed for a period
without payment of any rent. In these plots,
the returnees start an agricultural activity
under the supervision of FAO and the
implementing partners, with intensive
training in good agricultural practices
(organic fertilization, anti-erosion measures,
seed production, nurseries, etc.)
In return, the land owners are included in a
win-win process and FAO will take action to
rehabilitate access roads, install fences, and
initiate agro-forestry initiatives.
The federation of returnees around these
farms will facilitate initiatives regarding joint
agriculture activities or management of
common infrastructure (nurseries,
processing machines, warehouses, etc.).
Strengthening farmers’ associations including greater participation for women: The strength of an agriculture
sector relies on solid and well managed farmers’ groups. Unfortunately, in DRC the weakness of such farming groups
has greatly inhibited production capacity and yields for a number of years. Promoting sustainability, we will work to
link farmers’ groups with the Rural Agricultural Management Committees (CARG). In this project, 320 farmers’
groups will be strengthened, in addition to the training of at least 640 people (2 leaders per group) in topics such as
farming best practices, small business management, and processing techniques. The Tufaidike Wote team will work
to ensure the equal presence of women in these trainings and in the leadership of these organizations which will
improve the ability of women to voice their concerns and participate in internal decision making processes. Training
will be conducted through the innovative farmer field school and Junior Farmer Field life school that guarantee a
participative approach.
Improving land productivity and increasing household revenue: To support better production key steps of several
value chains will be targeted according to each community’s profile, including: input access, production techniques,
storage, processing, transport and marketing. Three main types of production have been selected to support 25,000
families: green gardening production (15,000 families), staple crops production (5,000 families) and livestock herding
(5,000 cattle herders). The main staple crops in the region are maize, bean, rice, and soy beans.
a. Securing access to land: Securing land tenure is an important factor in stabilizing communities. Conflicts over
access to natural resources for economic production lead to under use of arable land and are one of the major
constraints to economic development in Eastern DRC. Land conflicts exacerbate ethnic conflict, demographic
pressure and returnees’ livelihood opportunities. FAO and Alert will work together to secure access to land through
the processes described above.
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In parallel to conflicts regarding land tenure, a significant amount of highly productive lowlands and marshes are
underexploited due to poorly maintained or abandoned drainage systems that cause repetitive flooding during the
rainy season. FAO is proposing the rehabilitation of these lowlands in order to make more land available for returnee
families and others, restore productive potential while at the same time increasing the value of the property for the
land owners. This project, with the help of peace committees in the mediation of land conflicts, aims to secure
signed contracts between land owners and community farm groups for 450 hectares for green gardening production
benefiting 25,000 households.
b. Increased small farmers’ access to improved inputs such as seeds, tools, credit to improve land use for their time
and effort: Access to land does not necessarily imply that returnee families will be able to produce efficiently. The
lack of quality seeds in rural Congo, the absence of other agricultural input marketing networks, the weak
institutions in seed certification, and the extreme poverty of most farmers in the rural areas are major constraints
limiting yield. Access to quality seeds is critical in the long term, but the providers of agricultural inputs in DRC are
normally out of reach of the farmers that generally cannot find or afford these quality inputs. The project will
increase farmers’ access to these critical inputs through organizing a dialogue for Agricultural Service Support, linking
producers, intermediate and inputs providers to share concerns and needs.
Improved agricultural techniques to increase production, improve food quality and conservation practices to
ensure soil conservation and reduce land pressure:
a. Good practices for the production of staple crops: Recent FAO projects in Eastern DRC have proved that once
good quality seeds are available the production of staple crops can be increased with the extension of good practices
like crop rotation (cereals-legumes), sowing in line, repeated weeding throughout the production season, antierosion bands, and organic fertilization, for example. These practices do not require greater effort by the farmer.
From an environmental point of view, good practices to reduce soil degradation and erosion will be encouraged,
with an emphasis made on avoiding burning practices to clear the crops and the use of slash and burn techniques..
Activities to restore the fertility of soils are also foreseen, and trainings to produce compost, already implemented
by FAO in ongoing projects, are proving to be efficient in sensitizing farmers on the need to protect the soil in order
to have steady harvests in the mid and long term. Other protection activities such as agro-forestry will be examined
depending on the potential of the working zones and the interest shown by the communities.
b. Good practices for the production of vegetables: Green gardening production for 15,000 families will ensure a
continuous harvest throughout the year of the vegetables chosen by the farmers’ groups, such as tomatoes, onions,
eggplants, or amaranths. The production of vegetables is a good value as an agricultural practice because it ensures
constant income for the household and specifically for women who are most of the time responsible for gardening.
c. Animal Health veterinary units: In Eastern DRC, improper cattle rearing practices (poor hygiene, poor veterinary
care, late or non identification of outbreaks, for example), and lack of veterinary medicines, limit the cattle rearing
sector to a low-income activity with frequent losses and lack of a real economic impact. The potential for growth of
the livestock sector in Eastern DRC is very important though, especially in zones with a tradition in cattle rearing,
such as Walungu or Ruzizi Area in South Kivu; Masisi in North Kivu and Irumu in Ituri. In addition, small livestock
rearing such as chicken or goats is generalized throughout the region. In this project, FAO will create up to 10
veterinarian units, based on community development plans for the small grant packages. FAO will provide veterinary
medicines to these units, which will be managed by groups of herders through a community-based approach and
supported by the three cattle breeders associations in the region. Training on best practices for animal husbandry
will also be given.
Activity 2- Supporting opportunities for Alternative Livelihoods: CARE and FAO will work together to support two
group Income Generating Activities (IGA) per community. The communities will propose which IGAs they would like
to pursue and will be aided in the decision making process by information collected during the value chain and
market analysis survey. CARE will provide professional skills training, such as business management or numeric
literacy, to strengthen households and ensure better management of the financial gains made through IGAs.
To leverage all the livelihood activities for a more sustainable impact, CARE will establish VSLA activities. The VSLAs
will be linked to all the relevant community structures that the Tufaidike Wote project will work with including
farmer’s groups, peace committees, IGA groups, and other community based organizations such as women’s
associations. VSLA is a proven strategy to empower women and integrate marginalized people in a solidarity group.
They are also an effective tool to support the socio-economic reintegration of survivors of SGBV.
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Building on success: CARE’s VSLA Methodology
VSLA is a proven savings based approach for overcoming the limitations of existing financial services for the rural poor. It
builds on traditional savings systems, forming a self-selected group of people who pool their money into a fund from
which members borrow. Capital is generated through the purchase of ‘shares’ on a weekly basis and members can
borrow three times the value of their accumulated savings. Members fix the interest rate during weekly meetings and at
the end of the year an agreed sum of savings and dividends is distributed to all members based on share contributions.
Typically members pay for house repairs, buy mobile phones, or contribute to community events. Contributions are also
made to a social fund. Much mmore than a saving and loans scheme, in CARE’s experience VSLA is an opportunity to
create a solidarity network for dealing with daily issues. It’s a support for training, capacity building and information
sharing. Women in VSLA in Tanzania have reported that they make a greater contribution to household decision making,
gain confidence in public life and are preferred choices for leadership positions.
Activity 3-Basic Agriculture Infrastructure Improved or Increased
The rehabilitation of infrastructure in the rural markets (selling pavilions, slaughtering areas, warehouses, etc.)
facilitates the exchange of agricultural products. Warehouses where farmers can store their products until the next
market day will avoid double transport of goods and reduce the abuses made by intermediaries towards farmers.
Authorized and equipped slaughter areas will improve hygiene and public health. We will address market
construction needs expressed by the community through the small grant package.
Processing: The installation of processing units (grinding mills, huskers, oil presses, etc.) accompanied by
management training and equipment maintenance will help ensure that farmers have better market access,
improving negotiation power of farmers in relation to traders or intermediaries, by increasing the added value of
products sold and facilitating the preservation of processed products, reducing post-harvest losses.
Transport: The isolation and long distances between production areas and marketing sites largely limit the
development of the agricultural sector in the DRC. Rehabilitation of agricultural access roads and transport initiatives
(group transport of the harvest out of the production areas, distribution of bicycles to farm associations) are
priorities to reduce post harvest losses (especially vegetables), facilitate the flow of primary products and boost
trade. In accordance with community preferences, FAO will be able to improve the accessibility of 150 km of access
roads in targeted areas, with the construction of bridges, passages under roads or other infrastructure that
facilitates access to the identified axes. Community participation is required for the maintenance and improvement
of the bandwidth, and FAO will train the CLERs (Local Committees for road maintenance) and distribute the
necessary tools to ensure such maintenance can occur. In addition, 700 farmers’ groups will receive bicycles for easy
transportation of products, and there will be organized group transportation of harvests between the areas of food
production and sales markets.
Storage: Post-harvest losses due to poor conservation practices and storage could exceed 40 percent for some
products like fruits and vegetables. Extension of good harvesting practices, including storage and preservation, and
the establishment of common infrastructure (drying facilities, warehouses, etc.) will limit these losses and will be a
key training and support activity of FAO.
Marketing and linkages with private sector: Efforts will be made to facilitate trade between the private sector
(transporters, traders, main actors in processing of first products, large buyers such as the WFP or Bralima) and
producer groups. FAO’s ongoing projects in Eastern DRC propose an innovative and specialized approach to the
analysis of markets and marketing strategies to have a better understanding of the dynamics between the private
sector and farmer groups, provide a technical assessment to the private sector regarding the business opportunities
linked to investments, and encourage the creation of mid- and long-term trade opportunities between the farmer
groups and private companies. For example, the Tufaidike Wote team could partner with a cell phone company to
provide services such as cash transfer capabilities or SMS updates on changing market prices for crops. Developing
better linkages with the private sector will enable the integration of the community within a broad economic
network and reduce transaction costs.
An additional opportunity for cross-border trading between Eastern DRC and neighboring Rwanda, Uganda, and
Burundi exists and the Tufaidike Wote partners will look for ways to enhance and improve this network. Many
people, especially women, travel back and forth selling vegetables, cattle, cereals, cassava and beans (depending on
which border is being crossed). We will arrange dialogues among these groups to discuss barriers to trade such as
illegal taxation and see how the Community Forum can work together to address the issues raised.
Activity 4- Community-level dialogue on rights & roles of men and women facilitated: As described under IRs 1 and
2, the Tufaidike Wote team will conduct community dialogues on gender dynamics, including human rights and
distribution of power and roles in society. We will also identify “positive deviants” or men and women who live
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outside established cultural norms to help facilitate discussions and provide leadership to the community groups we
will work with.
Cross-Cutting Themes for all Project Components
Four cross-cutting themes support the project activities described above and assist the delivery the combined
approach. These themes emphasize the need to develop a strong foundation of skills and capacities for all project
stakeholders. During the first months of the project, strategies, training programs, and monitoring schedules will be
developed by the project team’s technical advisers, all guided by the following:
1. Promoting inclusion, especially of women
When groups of people within a community are marginalized and excluded from social and public life, true
development and progress will be held back. Working to include groups such as women, widows, people living with
disabilities, youth, or ex-combatants is a critical step to ensuring success, sustainability and impact that reaches the
most community members possible. This theme is further discussed in Section D.
2. Conflict sensitivity and early warning
In order to ensure that the Tufaidike Wote project activities do not (unintentionally) fuel conflict in target
communities, and also to promote a positive peacebuilding impact in all of our project components we will apply
conflict sensitivity as a cross-cutting theme. Conflict sensitivity extends the principle of “do no harm” to project
actions to a greater awareness of the interaction of multiple actors in the broader surrounding environment.13 It
analyzes power relations in the community. During the community baseline assessment a simple conflict sensitivity
tool will be used in each community to identify the main risks which may arise from project activities. Given the
significant resource input to be delivered in the agricultural sector this will be a particular area of focus. The
community will discuss the risks identified and consider how to address them in a preventive manner during the
course of the project. At the same time the peace committees will be encouraged to discuss events in their
community on a regular basis. This system of continual context analysis will feed back into the conflict sensitivity
table as a ‘live’ monitoring and early warning tool. Every effort will be made to link with other local early warning
systems particularly those which respond to cases of sexual violence. The community context monitoring
information can be collected and used by local project partners and the project team in higher level security
coordination meetings with government and international representatives such as STAREC/OCHA and the
Stabilization Working Group.
3. Making good governance principles (participation, transparency, and accountability) a reality
Good governance provides stability by making reconciliation sustainable through inclusion, and by allowing for
equitable access to economic opportunities. The good governance principles of participation, transparency and
accountability cut right across the project. They will be applied through the program of capacity building for
individuals and community organizations, followed by practical measures to strengthen citizens’ participation in the
management of public affairs (see IR2). The goal is to promote stronger more equitable decision-making in and for
the community.
The capacity building program will be conducted through training of all project actors (including individual
community members, community organizations and local authorities). On the basis of the data gathered in the
community baseline assessments, the Governance Adviser will work closely with the Peacebuilding Adviser to
prepare appropriate training modules, using what exists already in CARE and other INGOs present in DRC and relying
as much as possible on the local language, Swahili. Capacity building training will range from ‘hard’ technical skills
such as simple bookkeeping and writing minutes of meetings to ‘soft’ behavioral skills such as qualities of a leader. It
will be consolidated through a ‘learning by doing’ approach.14 By means of the capacity building program,
communities (individuals, community structures, and local authorities) will be enabled to better manage the
resource inputs to the community.
Greater capacity to participate in public affairs will be supported by creating opportunities to engage in decisionmaking. A lesson learned from previous experience is that the absence of records and other written documentation
weakens commitments to decisions and encourages rumors and other bad practices. The keeping of records and the
introduction of written forms of agreement will therefore be encouraged throughout the project.15 Examples of
written agreements which will be encouraged include actes de conciliation (deeds of reconciliation) and actes de
13
International Alert played a leading role in developing the concept of conflict sensitivity. See
http://www.conflictsensitivity.org/publications/conflict-sensitive-approaches
14
The ‘learning by doing’ approach involves participants analyzing problems and implementing solutions with a built in review process to
reflect on the challenges encountered and adapt their activity as necessary.
15 It should be noted that this is not at the expense of the traditional forms of agreement used in predominately illiterate communities.
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cessation de terre (land use concessions). The work carried out on development plans and reconciliation plans will
also be a good instrument for this purpose.
4. Participatory monitoring and learning
Learning, monitoring and evaluation are important tools for achieving project goals at community level. The more
the community participates in these processes the more their ownership of the project activities, outputs and
outcomes will be increased. High ownership will encourage high levels of motivation, important in a project which
relies heavily on voluntary time and effort. It will also encourage sustainability of project results, particularly the new
knowledge, behaviors and skills acquired.
Since the project aims to produce changes in the targeted communities, progress towards change will need to be
monitored. The project has ‘hard’ activities which are easily assessed using quantitative methods, as well as ‘soft’
activities which are often better assessed using qualitative methods. Thus the M&E system will use simple tools for
both, and particularly interlinking tools such as scorecards which can monitor opinions, and surveys to supplement
gathering of case studies and narratives. The local partners will be trained to use these tools and to involve
community members fully. Moreover, regular opportunities for feedback of this data to the community to
encourage self-evaluation of progress will be created.
The project uses several innovative approaches and methods. Opportunities for sharing these in national and
international forums (such as UN cluster meetings, government/donor forums) and through reports and publications
will be explored.
Partnership Strategy and Promoting Linkages
The Tufaidike Wote project is placing great emphasis on its ability to accompany the combined response with the
promotion of trust and shared responsibility between citizens and different levels of authority. It will achieve this
through a careful and comprehensive partnership strategy which brings a number of different actors together
around many key activities.
1. Local partners supporting community structures
Local partnerships are a preferred way of working for CARE, FAO, and International Alert and we have established
relations with partners in each zone of intervention. Through the Liaison Officers that local partners will recruit, the
organizations will be in permanent contact with community structures. Local partners add value to a community
project through their wider network of contacts and their permanent presence on the ground – before and after the
life of a project. In most cases one local partner will engage with the different community structures present in a
community and they will be trained to take on the facilitation and monitoring role through capacity building and
accompaniment.
2. Government and Administrative Authorities
Local partners can also facilitate linkages with local authorities such as customary chiefs and state administrators.
They can be a useful intermediary at territory level for matters such as those relating to land registration, conflicts
requiring a penal referral, or power related conflicts particularly between different ethnic groups. The project will
make a special effort to follow through community development plans so that they feed in to planning mechanisms
at groupement, territory and provincial levels. Moreover, the consortium will make a concerted effort to link
farmer’s groups and community development groups with CARGs (where they are functional) and also to involve
CARGs in community development planning processes to ensure that community priorities are included in the
broader agricultural development plan they are responsible for.
Tufaidike Wote consortium members will also advocate at these higher levels. We have a solid rapport with
provincial authorities and ministries. We have already had our project plan validated by the authorities in North and
South Kivu (STAREC/ economic recovery commission and Comité Technique de Coordination-CTC), which ensures
that we will collaborate with the ISSSS/STAREC decentralization plans. We will involve other national institutions
such as SENASEM (National Service of Seeds) for the certification of the seeds that will be used during the project,
and DVDA (Service of Access Roads) that will certify the quality of the infrastructural works. We will receive full
support from Provincial Ministries of Agriculture, Fishing and Livestock (see Letters of Support Annex 5: Part VI).
3. Community Forum
At the community level as already stated, the project will work with several community structures (local peace
committees, community development committees and farmers’ groups). To promote transparency, accountability
and synergy between these structures, a Community Forum bringing all three structures together will be organized
in each community (or collection of communities if they are in the same groupement and prefer to meet together).
This forum will enable coordination on community plans and sharing of context analysis and important community
information and be a further key vehicle for good governance and citizen’s participation. Such forums are strongly
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recommended in recent publications on peacebuilding where creating neutral spaces for dialogue are seen as a
minimal requirement for moving towards reconstructing a consensual basis for local hegemony. 16 They are also an
important means to increase information sharing and joint undertakings between community members and local
officials, community leaders and chiefs who are invited to attend the meeting. 17
Each Community Forum will meet monthly and have a standard agenda which includes conflict and context
Building on success: Mutarule monthly coordination meeting
In the USAID funded PSCRP project the community of Mutarule, Plaine de Ruzizi, held a monthly
coordination meeting with members of the development and peace committees (baraza). Over
time, this meeting agreed to recreate a Comite des Sages in the community with inter-ethnic
and women’s representation. Together these groups identified land use demarcation as a
particular cause of local conflict. They approached the local authorities and have worked
together to re-divide land between farmers and herders and to agree to a community code of
land use conduct.
monitoring, sharing plans and activities, and agreeing on joint actions to address issues of concern in the community.
Geographic Focus and choice of beneficiary target groups
This project will work in Eastern Congo that may include South Kivu,North Kivu and Ituri . The exact determination of
communities will be made through a participatory assessment of the communities at the start of the project. The
feasibility study, which will be conducted in 11 groupements and will be linked with other USAID programs, will
enable the consortium to determine the exact locations where the project will best perform. In Beni, the consortium
will target the groupements of Batongi, Bambura, Mbau and Mavivi. In Masisi the consortium will target Biriri and
Buabo. In South Kivu we will target along the Walungu – Mwenga axis, namely in Mulamba, Kanyola, Izege and
Kabalule. The consortium will also conduct the feasibility study in North Kalehe (specifically in Nyabibwe and Numbi).
The geographic criteria used to determine the project’s focus areas are: (1) a STAREC priority axis (and SSU priority
zone) according to the SSU July 2011 situational assessment;(2) accessibility; (3) the ability to extend the area of
stability and recovery across a zone; (4) the population’s experience with conflict; (5) the concentration of returnees
and IDPs; (6) the livelihood – agricultural potential; (7) the experience and presence of our consortium and local
partners in the area. Tufaidike Wote
Ituri District
Irumu territory: The southern section of the Bunia-Beni axis bordering North Kivu (collectivité Basili) has seen a
sizeable immigration of the Nande and Hema farming communities in the past 20 years. Nande people struggle with
host communities over land access for livestock, agriculture and timber. Moreover, Irumu territory was hardly
affected by the conflict in 2009 and is now facing now a high number of returnees and increased economic
migration. The armed group ADF/NALU is active in the east of this zone. The zone itself is considered stable enough
despite pockets of local militia resistance -Front Populaire pour la Justice au Congo (FPJC) and Front de Résistance
Patriotique de l’Ituri (FRPI). There is some banditry causing displacement of local populations. A number of actors,
including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontière, are active and there is good access along the Bunia-Beni road. FAO is
working in the Bunia-Luna axis and believes that the extensive savannah lands have good agricultural potential.
Moreover, there will be a linkage with their work in neighboring North Kivu. International Alert’s partner, Haki na
Amani, has established peace committees with experience in land conflict resolution in the collectivités Walendu
Bindi, Bahema/Sud and Basili. It will be possible to have a quick start-up in this area for agricultural activities as well.
North Kivu
Masisi territory is the second highest territory in terms of the total number of SGBV survivors in 201018 (after
Rutshuru Territory) and of the IDPs populations (157,893 in July 201119 after Lubero Territory). The consortium will
start working in the Masisi-Kinigi-Rubaya triangle in groupements Buabo and Bihiri. These areas have been hosting
IDPs for several years and present good agricultural potential. CARE has developed several approaches in this area
such as governance committees for humanitarian assistance management, food security support and WASH
16
Fetherston, Peacekeeping, conflict resolution and peacebuilding: A reconsideration of theoretical frameworks, 2010n
See report on power relations in S Kivu: Jennifer Smith, Case Study of South Kivu Province, IA, 2009
18 UNFPA, Cas incidents de violences sexuelles enregistrés en 2010 au Nord-Kivu, December 2010
19 OCHA, Rapport de mouvement de population, July 2011
17
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assistance. Access to land is a serious issue and access to other income generating activities will benefit all in the
community. CARE has just finalized a livelihood survey program in the area and learned that 30% of household
incomes in this area are generated by a non-agricultural activity. Ethnic issues have been also affecting this area,
with a majority of Hunde people sharing territory with a large community of Tutsi and Hutu people, who mainly
speak Kinyarwanda. We intend to add some relevant activities in Karuba groupement, where Alert is already
implementing programs in the communities of Karuba Centre, Bushuhe and Rushoga.
Beni territory has been highly affected by displacement and is ranked the second highest territory of return in North
Kivu. This territory is also affected by the presence of the armed group ADF/NALU and has been severely impacted
by the military operations “Rwenzori” of FARDC. FAO is already working through the joint UN project in chefferie de
Bashu and Watalinga (north, neighboring Irumu). We propose to conduct community profiling along the axes
Butembo, Beni, Bunia in order to complement existing FAO projects and benefit from the commercial
interconnection between the two territories.
South Kivu
Walungu -West and East of the N2 road (I4S Priority): The haut plateau groupement of Mushinga west of the
National Road 2 (N2) in Chefferie Ngweshe, and Burhale and Mulamba on the Walungu – Shabunda axis are focuses
of concern. The conflict between two families with extensive land holdings in Ngweshe chefferie is now complicated
by the arrival of Twangiza Gold Mining Company (Banrho), who has started operations in Burhinyi and Lhuandje
groupements causing loss of livelihood and displacement. On the other side of the N2, the Walungu-Shabunda axis is
still relatively inaccessible, but Alert and FAO have been working in the groupements of Burhale and Mulamba; and it
is considered possible to liaise with existing actors such as CRS, Maltheser, Cooperation Suisse and CORDAID to
assess communities further along the axis in the groupements such as Lubona, Tubimbi and Kamisimbi. The SGBV
records are very high in this area and continue to be one of the highest in South Kivu.
Definition of Community
The project will work in 35 communities of approximately 4,000 people and 700 households. The community
assessments which will be carried out in the first few months of the project20 will determine the exact profile of
target communities. Tufaidike WoteWe will work in 20 communities within the first two years and 15 more in the
third year of the project. This way of phasing in communities will allow us more flexibility and improve our ability to
respond effectively over time. According to the population statistics available, this size of community represents one
or two localities in each case and is therefore a coherent entity of belonging and governance through which the
project’s change goal is feasible. The Consortium estimates reaching 120,000 direct beneficiaries (half of whom are
women), in around 20,000 households (assuming an average of 6 persons per households). In addition, it is
estimated that there will be around 330,000 indirect beneficiaries including local administrative and customary
authorities; neighbouring communities benefiting from improved agricultural production, producer prices, and
markets; and a wider area influenced by the resolution and prevention of conflict in the selected communities.
B. MANAGEMENT AND STAFFING
The Tufaidike Wote Consortium is composed of three primary members, CARE, International Alert and FAO, who
have built their partnership on the cornerstone of collaboration and cooperation. Serving as the lead member, CARE
will be responsible for overall coordination of the project as well as the financial administration, monitoring and
evaluation, and reporting relationship with USAID. International Alert and FAO will maintain programmatic and
financial accountability to the project, bearing the responsibility for the execution of activities that fall within their
areas of technical expertise. Together, these organizations will maximize their collective human and resource
capacity to ensure that an effective management and staffing structure strikes the optimal balance of logistics
coordination, adaptive response to challenges and issues, and solid leadership for a high-quality program. The
proposed management structure is illustrated below in the Tufaidike Wote Organizational Chart (Letters of
Commitment from Tufaidike Wote Key Personnel can be found in Annex 1: Part II).
Tufaidike Wote will be overseen by a Steering Committee that provides a forum for the consortium partners and
USAID to develop and revise strategies and make key decisions. Provincial steering committees will also be
established and led by a provincial coordinator and local government representatives to monitor the project
implementation.
20
Due to the elections in November 2011 we think that it will not be a good idea to conduct surveys, etc in Dec. We intend to start baselines in
January; however we will do rapid assessments in the quick-start up communities as soon as is feasible.
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The Chief of Party is responsible for coordination of the team, liaison with local authorities and the donor, as well as
dissemination of the strategic decisions made by the steering committee. The CoP will lead the programmatic,
financial, and administrative implementation and management of Tufaidike Wote. He will supervise and manage all
key technical staff and as well as serve as the primary point-of-contact for USAID and the Government of DRC. The
CoP will assume overall responsibility for project design, implementation, and performance. While there is a task
management relationship between the CoP and the Steering Committee, the CoP will nevertheless be line managed
by CARE’s Country Director and will be based in Goma. The CoP will also meet regularly with senior representatives
of the implementing partners in order to ensure that project staff from CARE, FAO, and Alert is all working in
tandem. The CoP will be supported in the program management role by the Operations Officer and the M&E
Coordinator, who will act in his place during annual leave or planned absences.
CARE is proposing Mr. Ron Ruybal for Chief of Party on the Tufaidike Wote team. Mr. Ruybal has over thirty years
experience in the development field and is a reputable and responsible manager with a solid grounding in strategic
planning, design, gender, and evaluation skills. Most recently, Mr. Ruybal served as the Senior Advisor to the Office
of Agriculture for USAID Afghanistan managing an annual budget of one billion dollars in agricultural productivity,
value chain development, credit, and natural resource conservation. In addition to his strong technical background,
Mr. Ruybal has worked extensively with USAID and other NGOs, is fluent in French, and has previous experience in
DRC. The combination of his programmatic and managerial skills, experience in conflict settings, and his dedication
and commitment to the project proposed here make Mr. Ruybal an ideal candidate for the CoP position.
A Technical Coordination Team (TCT) made up of senior management members of the three principal partners and
headed by the CoP will tackle the technical components and annual activity plans. The technical advisers will also
have representation in the committee, allowing for an exchange of technical expertise and experience as well as the
consolidation of approaches and methodology. The coordination team will meet on a weekly basis in order to ensure
full coordination and complementarities between different parts of the project. In addition, a pool of experts from
CARE and International Alert will support the project with in-country and virtual technical assistance in gender,
governance, monitoring and evaluation, and VSLA.
Tufaidike’s technical advisers include an Agriculture Development Adviser (ADA), a Community Governance Adviser
(CGA), and a Peacebuilding Adviser who will work full time on the project. Advisers will be based in the Goma
coordination office and will work directly with consortium members’ project teams based in other offices. The
consortium has recruited for the three advisers and has found excellent candidates for all of these positions. Per
USAID’s guidance, we will describe only the key personnel here.
International Alert is proposing Miss Maria Lange for the Peace building Adviser position on the Tufaidike Wote
team. Currently the Chief of IA’s Office in North Kivu in Eastern DRC, Miss Maria Lange is responsible for the
development and monitoring of peace building and conflict sensitivity programming since ten years, has developed
skills and competencies in conflict analysis and community based peace building programming. She has supervised
and contributed to several in depth surveys conducted in North and South Kivu on these thematic. Miss Maria Lange
has close to ten years of knowledge and experience in peace building and conflict sensitivity programming in DRC
and elsewhere, making her a well-rounded candidate for the PBA position.
CARE is proposing Mr. Jean-Louis Mbusa for the Community Governance Adviser. Mr. Mbusa has over a decade of
experience working with international NGOs in DRC specifically honing his skills in community-oriented governance
for reconstruction and development. In addition to having an in-depth understanding of the socio-political context
and dynamics of the region, Mr. Mbusa is well versed in governance accountability tools, conducting community
assessments, and has developed strong rapport with the communities where he has worked. He is fluent in French,
Swahili, and Lingala.
An Operations Officer will also report directly to the CoP. S/he will lead the implementation of CARE’s subagreements and management policy, ensuring that identified organizational gaps and weaknesses are systematically
addressed. The Operations Officer will also be responsible for supporting the CoP in program management and
administration. Working closely with CARE’s Financial Controller, Assistant Country Director for Program Support,
Grant Manager and other members of the senior program management team, the Operations Officer will maintain
direct relationships with the consortium partners in order to ensure that recipients comply with grant conditions and
reporting requirements.
A Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) Coordinator, recruited by CARE, will complete the team reporting directly to the
CoP. The M&E Coordinator will lead implementation of the Program Monitoring Plan, outlined in Section E and
Annex 4: Part V. The Tufaidike Wote M&E Coordinator will be supported by CARE’s Program Quality & Learning
Advisor and FAO’s monitoring team and will oversee the M&E responsibilities of project officers in each province.
The M&E Coordinator will conduct regular visits to target communities and assess ongoing efforts and attainment of
project objectives. These field visits will promote the honest, efficient and effective use of project resources, monitor
the quality of services provided by the Tufaidike Wote implementing partners and provide key information through
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written and photographic documentation on the strengths and weaknesses at all sites visited. This information will
feed into regular updates on the project accomplishments and remaining challenges. In addition, the M&E officer
will work in coordination with the Operations Officer to support CoP in program management, administration and
oversight.
While each consortium partner will cover activities in all both Provinces and the Ituri District of intervention, the
office bases have been divided by partner by province. CARE will maintain a project office in Masisi to ease
operations and proximity to the field. International Alert will be based in Bukavu, South Kivu, while FAO will be based
in Bunia and Beni, each already has established offices. As we have already operational offices and staff in place, this
ensures a rapid start up of the project in the first 10 communities.
Though each partner will have the flexibility to determine the exact compositions of their team, the agreed
provincial structure will resemble the following:
Project Officers: Each consortium partner will provide one or two project officers to oversee the implementation of
activities in the field. There should be at least two PO in order to ensure that each of the two axes in the province
can be covered at all times. The project officer will report to the project partner which recruited him/her. One of the
project officers will be appointed as Provincial Coordinator that will be responsible for the close coordination of
each component and reporting to the coordination team and COP.
Field Advisers: Consortium partners can provide field advisers to the project offices as required. For example, FAO
will provide a total of eight agricultural advisers over the project area. The FAO Field Adviser will be charged with
providing technical capacity building and monitoring of the agricultural activities. International Alert and CARE will
hire field advisers in their expertise. Fifty percent of the field advisers’ position will be phased out in year two, as the
capacity of the local implementing partners increase in the field.
Support Staff: The consortium partners overseeing each provincial/district office will have in place the requisite
support staff required to run the sub-office. The exceptions are drivers; each consortium partner will manage its own
cars and drivers in each of the sites.
Local NGO partners: Local implementing partner’s liaison officers (to be recruited) will be charged with coordinating
activities in the field sites, harmonizing the activity plans of the three partners, passing information between the
community and the project staff and serving as a point of reference for all project related activities. In the first two
years, the liaison officers will be closely supported by the Field Advisers.
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Figure 2: Organizational Structure
National Steering Committee
USAID (PS and EG unit)/Government
STAREC/ Director of Alert, CARE and FAO
+ COP
Technical
Assistance
Consultancy
pool/
Technical
Assistance
Gender, Governance,
M&E,
VSLA
Gender
Technical Coordination Team
Chief of Party - CARE
Peacebuilding
Adviser –
International
Alert
Agriculture
Development
Adviser - FAO
M&E Officer
Community
Governance
Advisers
Operations
Officer
Provincial Coordination
And Program Implementation
Provincial
Steering
Provincial
Steering
Provincial
Steering
North Kivu
South Kivu
Inure
Coordination
Coordination
Shared office
Coordination
Shared Office
CARE
International -
Shared office
Provincial leader
Provincial
leader
International
Alert -
FAO -
Provincial leader
Local partners
Including
Liaison officers
International Alert
Peacebuilding team
CARE International
Community governance
team
International
Alert program
and support team
CARE
CARE International
CARE
program and
support team
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FAO
Agricultural
Development team
FAO program
and support
team
18
C. COLLABORATION AND LEVERAGED RESOURCES
The Tufaidike Wote consortium will collaborate regularly with USAID, inviting representatives to take part in an
annual steering committee meeting, ensuring timely reporting and encouraging field visits to project sites. The
organizational capability and experience described in Section F indicate the extent of existing consortium member
activities which the project will build on and leverage. Consortium partners already have quality relationships with
USAID and other donors supporting stabilization (for example: DFID, EU, the UN system—through the SSU and other
joint UN agency forums including the Stabilization Working Group and clusters); and with government bodies
(STAREC line ministries such as the Ministries of Planning and Agriculture). Consortium partners have worked in
partnership with several other key USAID implementers: MSI, IRC, UNICEF, UNDP, UN-HABITAT; and will actively
maintain these relationships through exchanges, seminars, and informal contact. Building on this rapport, the
program we propose also has synergy and complementarities with UNDP work with the Local Committees for Peace
and Development (CLPD); UNHCR work with CLPCs, and Mercy Corps work on the MYAP project.
Each consortium partner has previously submitted and had validated by the North Kivu CTC a fiche de projet which
has synergy and direct complementarities to the project activities proposed here. These proposals, one falling within
the Social and Humanitarian Sub-Commission and two within the Relance Economique Commission, contribute an
element which complements those of other actors validated by CTC. A fiche for this project has also been presented
to the North Kivu and South Kivu CTC through the Ministry of Planning who has given his full support (see Annex 5:
Part VI). As the CTC mechanism is opened up in Ituri the same process will be followed. FAO is seeking similar
support from line ministries in Kinshasa. At the more local level, International Alert has partnered with MSI and UNHABITAT to train customary chiefs and CLPC committees in the principles of conflict management and resolution in
Masisi, Rutshuru, Walungu and Kalehe. CARE is implementing in a consortium with Save the Children, and Dutch
NGO’s ZOA and healthnet TPO in a community participatory project including community development plan and
VSLAs.
The local implementing partners are active members of civil society in each province or district. Tufaidike Wote will
use each stakeholder’s knowledge of and engagement with communities and groupements adjacent to the selected
communities of intervention to spread the benefits of training and other capacity building activities and to gain
wider ownership and input to understanding and lobbying on local issues of concern. Exchange visits will also be
organized. The final selection of communities will take into account the possibility of working in several communities
in the same groupement to increase coverage, impact and linkages on community development plans, or agricultural
value chains, and to extend these to a territorial level. For the research and learning priorities of the Tufaidike Wote
consortium, we plan to develop partnerships with private or public research centers, such as the Pole Institute. FAO
will partner with the University of Graben based in Butembo in North Kivu.
Cost Share provided as part of our proposal constitutes 14% of the Total Estimated Cost proposed.
D. GENDER
The Tufaidike Wote team’s experience has led to a growing knowledge base of and strong commitment to
addressing the relationship between poverty and gender inequality, especially as it relates to emergency and conflict
settings. Building off the depth and breadth of our global work and local effort in Eastern DRC, the project team has
prioritized addressing gender dynamics as a cross-cutting strategy that seeks to understand the needs, interests,
contributions, and constraints of both men and women in order to build more equity in the context of where they
live, work, and raise families.
Deep rooted, discriminatory gender norms throughout most of Congolese society pervade every aspect of life.
Cultural expectations which uphold male supremacy and maintain the total subservience of women often involve
violence in the domestic sphere and heavy workloads for women. In agriculture, men negotiate access to land,
women work the land and produce the crops, and men manage the post-harvest revenues (except in polygamous
families where the management of household income is organized differently). In Eastern DRC years of conflict have
brought important changes to these already excessively unequal gender roles. Many men, particularly young men,
have been militarized, and many male heads of households are no longer able to provide for their families. Together
with the associated loss of dignity, men in both civilian and military categories have become more economically,
socially and politically vulnerable. At the same time women have had to fend for themselves, sometimes by eking
out a living associated with armed groups or as female headed households. The changing economic role of women in
the predominant field of agriculture brings them into conflict with local customary authorities and sometimes with
their own family members. This is because women traditionally do not have land property rights, yet widows,
divorcees and female heads of households have had no choice but to try to gain land, the granting of which is at a
man’s discretion. Female heads of households who have been displaced or are returning refugees face a particularly
difficult situation. Women are furthermore often excluded from public life as a result of gender stereotyping which
denies them opportunity for education and limits their ability to make their voices heard in public forums.
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In our view, the increase in SGBV is at least in part an outcome of these changing roles. As the US Strategy to
Address SGBV in the DRC states, “addressing gender inequality in the DRC is not only the right thing to do, it’s the
smart thing to do.”21 The physical security of women is “a strong predictor of the peacefulness of the state”22, and
addressing the socio-political-cultural drivers which permit and even promote SGBV must be addressed from and by
the community in order to reduce its occurrence and create a protective environment in which women, men, girls
and boys all enjoy access to their basic human rights and opportunities to reach their full potential.
There are three strands in the Tufaidike Wote gender strategy: to empower women to begin to understand their
rights and roles, to have improved economic security, and to make a greater contribution to public life. A gender
audit and analysis will be undertaken during project start up in order to ensure that dynamics of gender for all
beneficiaries are understood in their context. These assessments will also serve to strengthen our approaches within
the three strands. Men will be fully involved as allies and partners in our gender strategy. CARE has found that a
programmatic focus that includes gender expansively (with men and women) leads to the most sustainable gains.
Instead of viewing men and women as oppositional groups with power transferred from one to the other, we can
use the principles of peacebuilding and conflict resolution to reinforce the importance of changing attitudes and
fostering interdependent and mutually supportive relationships.
For the empowerment strand, consortium and local partners already have good training modules to draw on,
including using international instruments such as UNSCR 1325 as a basis for discussion and advocacy. In livelihoods
training women will systematically be 50% of participants; unequal workloads will be a topic for discussion. Some
training will be oriented only to women in order to try and reduce the differences in skills between men and women;
for example, training on how to ride a bike before a distribution of bicycles to the farmers’ groups occurs in order to
avoid appropriating the bicycles with the excuse that women don’t know how to ride them.
Attention to women’s primary needs characterizes the second strand of our gender strategy. In relation to the
agricultural project component, access to land will focus on resolving land conflicts involving women, and in
allocating land according to women’s needs, such as distance to travel and the ability to reach the fields in a group
and not alone. Another protection example is that during harvesting periods for staple crops, trucks will be rented by
the project in order to avoid extensive movement by women who are exposed to robbery or sexual violence as they
transport produce. Green gardening which generates continuous revenue throughout the year (compared with
staple crops which only have two yields) is an important income generating activity that a woman can lead in her
household and subsequently manage the income for family expenses. The overall increase to the household income
has been shown to improve relationships and protect women from possible violence. The VSLA groups will also be a
way for women to invest, save, and enhance the benefits of green gardening and other IGAs.
The third gender strand will focus more on women’s secondary or strategic needs and significantly promote new
roles for women in decision-making by working with women members in the three community structures involved in
the project (local peace committees, community development committees and farmers’ groups); and by involving all
committee members in training on good governance principles which include equal participation by women. Where
appropriate, the project will work specifically with women’s groups and associations.
E. MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN
The Tufaidike Wote consortium will put in place a robust and rigorous Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) in order
to guide implementation, generate reliable data to quantify and qualify performance and impact, and support
knowledge management. The PMP is comprised of a Results Framework and three core functions: Internal
Monitoring & Capacity Building, External Impact Evaluations, and Knowledge Management & Accountability.
Results Framework
Referring back to the Tufaidike Wote theory of change: Peace and stability are fostered by creating spaces,
capacities and opportunities for all groups in targeted communities in Eastern DRC to participate in a combination
of reconciliation and recovery activities.
In support of this change theory, the proposed results framework establishes an illustrative set of performance
indicators associated with each intermediate result level, which will be further refined following award. The
summary table below presents preliminary indicators at the long-term outcome and impact levels together with
annual benchmarks. Annex 4: Part V presents a detailed PMP Results Framework with information on data
collection, data quality, frequency and analysis.
21
22
US strategy to address sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Public Release: April 2011.
Anderlini, Sanam Naraghi. World Development Report 2011: WDR Gender Background Paper, Final Draft. February 19, 2010.
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Table 1: Proposed Key Performance Indicators and targets
Indicators
Target
Y1
Y2
Strategic Objective: Stable socio-economic recovery in targeted communities enhanced
Y3
Y4
Number of project beneficiaries whose living conditions
N/A
42,000
63,000
120,000
improved as a result of project interventions*23
Percentage of citizens for whom perceptions of their own
N/A
10%
20%
40%
physical security improved*
Number of women’s organizations/associations assisted as a
20
100
210
210
result of USG support
Number of community-based reconciliation projects completed
10
50
70
70
with USG assistance
Proportion of female participants in USG-assisted programs
N/A
50%
60%
60%
designed to increase access to productive economic resources
(assets, credit, income or employment)
Increase proportion of people (disaggregated by sex) who
To be determined after the baseline
demonstrate an active participation in the community fora
compared to the baseline
IR 1: Conflict Prevention and management capacity developed or strengthened in targeted communities
Percentage increase of land conflicts resolved by peace
5%
10%
committees supported by USG
Percentage increase of (non-land related) intra and inter5%
10%
community conflicts prevented or resolved peacefully by
communities supported by USG
IR 2: Citizens’ participation in good governance strengthened in targeted communities
Percentage increase in the satisfaction of the population* with
5%
15%
their participation in the management of public affairs that affect
their lives*
Percentage increase in the satisfaction of the population* with
the level of transparency in local and national government
institutions*
IR 3: Livelihoods in targeted communities improved
Percentage increase in household revenue on a sustainable basis
5%
10%
20%
40%
15%
20%
30%
50%
10%
20%
35%
25%
50%
60%
*Denotes data that will be disaggregated by: sex (male/female), age (youth/adult); members of vulnerable populations; and people with
disabilities.
Internal Monitoring & Capacity Building
Tufaidike Wote’s monitoring system will ensure accurate tracking of program activities, outputs and outcomes.
Primary field data collection will be carried out by field-level staff of implementing partners and local partners who
will be trained to do so. Community members will be consulted at the outset and during project implementation to
integrate their analysis, opinions and satisfaction. CARE has developed several tools such as the community score
card and baseline guidelines for this. Data on program outputs and initial outcomes will be collected, analyzed,
checked for quality and consolidated in regular progress reports for various “clients of the M&E system”, primarily
USAID, collaborating partners, and targeted communities. Illustrative tools to be applied by the internal monitoring
function include monthly indicator monitoring, field visit, satisfaction surveys and case studies. To ensure social
accountability to target beneficiaries and to gain their input into program decision making, the project will involve
community members and project beneficiaries in periodic performance reviews.24
A critical aspect of internal monitoring will be the development of a conflict-sensitive M&E plan for use by the peace
committees and project officers. This will take place during project start-up and will be developed with input from
key stakeholders. Conflict-sensitive monitoring results will be discussed within the TCT regular meetings and can
support any project adjustments or adaptations allowing for project flexibility and sustainability.
23
The consortium estimates that 80% of the total targeted households will have an increase in revenue by the end of the
project.
24
CARE and International Alert have collaborated on an important multi-country ‘Theory of Change’ project and will apply
lessons learnd from this project wherever possible.
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Building on past success with M&E capacity building, the Tufaidike Wote team will train local partners in monitoring
and evaluation tools, techniques, collection, and analysis and work with them to develop and implement the
monitoring plan. Project staff will meet with partners to conduct a quarterly review of data, analyze findings, and
develop reports. As experience is gained, the project will move to semester review meetings in order to ensure
sustainability beyond the life of the project.
Collecting and maintaining quality data is critical to the project. Explicit details for each indicator are included in the
full results framework in Annex 4: Part V. Data quality will be checked by CARE’s internal quality team including one
program quality officer and one Director of Program Quality. At the start of the project, the consortium will work on
a quantitative and qualitative database and set up data collection tools. This database will be prepared with local
partners to ensure their full ownership of the M&E tool.
Performance Evaluation
To generate objective, reliable data on performance and impact, the PMP includes an external performance
evaluation. The feasibility and the baseline evaluation will be led by the CoP with support of two external
consultants and conducted in the first few months of the project. The feasibility will include five key assessments: (1)
Governance; (2) Conflict: identification of the main types of conflicts experienced in the community (governance-,
land-, resource-related, linked w political and/or armed actors); (3) Food security & Livelihood; (4) Household
profiling and (5) Gender Analysis.It will enable to determine the exact sites intervention. The baseline will enable to
set up and revise if necessary the target used in the PMP and it will complement the data collected in the feasibility
survey.
The midline and end line studies will be conducted by an external evaluator contracted by USAID and in consultation
with the Tufaidike Wote consortium. Relying on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the
evaluation will assess whether the program interventions do indeed lead to stable socio-economic recovery for the
target communities. Methodologically, the evaluation will apply a community based approach with adequate
statistical controls and qualitative tools such as interviews, focus groups and for a consultation that uses the natural
variation of participant exposure to and/or engagement with the project to the evaluation’s analytic advantage.
Across all aspects of the evaluation, data will be disaggregated by gender, age, vulnerable population, and people
with disability in order to understand how different groups of people may benefit from the work of Tufaidike Wote
in a distinct manner.
Knowledge Management & Accountability
The Tufaidike Wote PMP includes tested knowledge management practices which ensure that key stakeholders,
project beneficiaries, and the implementing staff of all partners are engaged and accountable to the project’s
success. The Tufaidike Wote consortium places a high degree of importance on engaging key stakeholders in the
processes of joint learning and accountability. To this end, the Technical Coordination Team will prepare
documentation and share it with all stakeholders including USAID, the government and partners. The steering
committee will meet on an annual basis and will discuss results and impact, strategy, and lessons learned based on
relevant documentation and research. The TCT will determine research themes that can complement already
existing surveys and research on Eastern DRC and conflict.
Externally, the project will pursue a communications plan that reaches key stakeholders via community radios and
other outlets including roadside visibility. Through its M&E Officer the project will prepare and share the results with
the stakeholders in DRC and abroad. The Tufaidike Wote consortium plans to have two publications during the
project period that will be broadly shared.
The Tufaidike Wote team will put in place a system of routine reflective practice at all levels of implementation. This
will include monthly field staff meetings and internal benchmarking reports to increase accountability and build staff
capacity. Collaboration will enable peer-to-peer learning on a demand-driven basis, as well as ensure that timely
adjustments can be made when implementation issues arise. An annual meeting of the entire project team will also
be hosted to facilitate reflection, sharing and dialogue on the performance of Tufaidike Wote.
F. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY AND PAST PERFORMANCE
CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty with community-based efforts to improve basic
education, prevent the spread of HIV, increase access to clean water and sanitation, expand economic opportunity
and protect natural resources. CARE also delivers emergency aid to survivors of war and natural disasters, and helps
people rebuild their lives. It places special focus on working alongside poor women because, equipped with the
proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.
CARE first intervened in the DRC in 1994 in the Eastern Congo to respond to the refugee crisis stemming from the
Rwandan genocide. CARE left the DRC in 1998, but returned in 2002. Initial interventions generally focused on health
issues in the province of Maniema, although there were projects which assisted demobilized soldiers, led community
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driven reconstruction, and directed community managed livelihoods support, including the set up of Village Savings
and Loans Associations.
In 2008, CARE expanded exponentially, in terms of staff size and sectors of intervention. This included launching
interventions in North Kivu in order to respond to the humanitarian crises resulting from the ongoing conflict and
insecurity in the area. Today, CARE DRC has nearly 150 staff and is directly implementing projects in North Kivu,
Maniema and Kinshasa. CARE is providing technical support to a number of local NGOs in large scale projects in
Kasais and South Kivu. Considered a leader in the field and partner of choice in reproductive health projects,
community driven reconstruction, good governance and socio-economic reintegration for SGBV survivors and other
vulnerable members of the community, CARE DRC has a solid foundation in country. CARE’s “Umoja” approach,
which provides assistance to IDPs living in host communities, is widely recognized as the way forward in terms of
assisting IDPs and communities lead an effective humanitarian response in a manner that promotes good
governance while reducing risk to humanitarian crises stemming from conflict related population movements.
CARE is committed to working with local partners, including the Congolese civil society, communities, and state
agencies. For example, in all of its health interventions, CARE implements activities through the Ministry of Health;
the community mobilization component of the projects is generally managed by local NGOs or CBOs. CARE’s solid
record of sub-granting to local organizations and well-established procedures ensure partner organizations are held
accountable for their use of sub-grant funds while opportunities to exchange expertise and build local capacity are
maximized.
CARE currently has funding from UNICEF, UNDP, the Pooled Fund, the Norwegian and Dutch Ministries of Foreign
Affairs, Coca Cola, the Positive Action for Children’s fund and the Warren and Susan Buffet Foundation. CARE is also
working as a technical partner in a large scale, multi-year SGBV project funded by USAID, the C-Change project
funded by USAID, and a community driven reconstruction project funded through the IRC by DFID.
Key programming experiences related to the Tufaidike Wote:
In the regional PACDEV project, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CARE supported 8,350 conflict
affected and marginalized households in 10 post-conflict communities in Maniema to rehabilitate their livelihoods in
collaboration with civil society and local government. In the same project, 30 peace committees enabled
communities to increase their capacity to resolve and mitigate conflicts over resources and services. Over 99% of the
272 conflicts brought before the Peace Committees were successfully resolved.
CARE’s community-driven reconstruction projects (Tuungane funded by DFID through IRC and Pamoja funded by the
Dutch MoFA) reinforce the link between communities, civil society and local government, providing support in
conflict mitigation, transparent management and good governance. Working within the national decentralization
process, local development committees lead community based participatory planning processes and manage
subsequent activities. The project has effectively contributed to the development of local governance systems that
empower communities, hold local government accountable and respond to community needs and priorities by
addressing three key components: basic services and economic development, conflict resolution, and political
participation. The principal cross-cutting issues include good governance, peacebuilding, gender equality, and nondiscrimination.
In the Norwegian MoFA funded Mama Amka project, CARE is assisting the treatment and reintegration of survivors
of SGBV and other acutely vulnerable members of the community, while increasing community capacity to prevent
future acts of SGBV. To date, over 860 survivors of sexual violence have benefited from community managed
psycho-social accompaniment, while over 1,300 individuals have accessed expanded economic opportunities
through Income Generating Activity groups and Village Savings and Loans Association. The socio-economic
component of the project has proved an effective mechanism to create a safe environment for survivors and, on a
wider scale, build community solidarity in an early recovery context.
In CARE’s Umoja projects, funded by a number of donors since 2009, over 48,000 displaced individuals and members
of their host families have been assisted in a community led process, which has allowed participants to access
assistance that responds to their specific needs. The use of a voucher system in an open market also supports
economic recovery. Community Crisis Management Cells have been trained to monitor population movements,
mitigate conflict and lead in humanitarian responses.
International Alert is a 25-year old independent peacebuilding organization that works with people who are directly
affected by violent conflict to improve their prospects of peace. Alert seeks to influence governments, international
organizations and multinational companies to reduce conflict risk and increase the prospects of peace. Working in
Africa, several parts of Asia, the South Caucasus, the Middle East and Latin America and most recently in the UK,
Alert’s policy work focuses on several key themes that influence prospects for peace and security – the economy,
climate change, gender, the role of international institutions, the impact of development aid, and the effect of good
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and bad governance. Alert is one of the world’s leading peacebuilding NGOs with more than 155 staff based in
London and 15 field offices.
International Alert has been working in the Great Lakes region since 1995. Due to the interconnected nature of the
conflicts in the region, Alert’s work focuses both on specific countries and on the region as a whole and is inspired by
three main areas of strategic focus: economic factors of peace and conflict; gender approaches to peace; and
reconciliation through dialogue.
In the DRC, International Alert works with civil society organizations and other stakeholders to encourage good
governance, promote inclusiveness and the representation of marginalized groups, and facilitate dialogue between
different actors and sectors. Projects are rooted in a context analysis, which is built around three interconnected
elements, namely power, identity and resources. Alert focuses on the following approaches in its work in the DRC:
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A community approach, based on our conviction that community initiatives, supported by local authorities,
represent the most promising solutions to the problems facing Eastern DRC
A gender approach, focused to date on promoting women’s active engagement in public life, peacebuilding
and politics
A political economy approach, addressing current issues including the management of conflicting interests
over natural resources (particularly land) and the incorporation of conflict-sensitivity into community
recovery and development
A governance approach, which aims to help strengthen statutory authorities by ensuring their effective
connection with community and civil society structures and initiatives.
Current programs aim to promote community recovery with a governance and peacebuilding dimension in North
and South Kivu; to remove barriers (at community and institutional levels) to women’s access to politics and political
institutions; to strengthen the capacities of Alert and its partners to monitor and evaluate their peacebuilding work,
with a specific focus on women’s organizations; and to promote small scale cross border trade as a way to
strengthen women’s economic empowerment and fuel reconciliation through dialogue.
Over the course of the last two years, Alert has supported various conflict resolution initiatives in DRC that directly
relate to the program objectives of the Tufaidike Wote project, including: capacity building support for ‘local peace
initiatives’ in Ituri district which mediate land conflicts (established by local NGO network Haki na Amani); the
development and advocacy on a provincial edict in North Kivu regulating traditional chiefs’ customary land
management (with local NGO FAT); and the piloting of a community mechanism for managing the transhumance,
which every year leads to violent conflicts in South Kivu (with local NGO ADEPAE). We have developed a practical
guide to designing and delivering training on community-based conflict resolution with Haki na Amani, and carried
out research on land, identity and power as roots of violent conflict in Eastern DRC. We conducted research and
published reports on a wide variety of topics related to conflict and peacebuilding in Eastern DRC, including the
economy of armed groups, natural resource exploitation, and sexual violence. We published an inventory and
analysis of community-based conflict management structures and initiatives in North and South Kivu and in
Ituri. Alert was the lead agency in the EU-funded ‘Initiative for Peacebuilding’ (IfP) consortium, whose outputs
included Africa-wide research on conflict-sensitive land policy and land governance.
Finally, Alert is currently completing the implementation of the USAID-supported Project to Promote Stabilization
and Community Reintegration in E-DRC (PSCRP) which over the last 18 months has enhanced our understanding of
the impact of village-level conflicts on local stability and on wider socio-politico-economic dynamics in North and
South Kivu. Over the course of this project we have developed and applied innovative methods of conflict resolution
and transformation alongside local peace committees, building the capacity of local partners and facilitating peaceful
and inclusive governance processes for the implementation of recovery projects.
Achieving food security for all is at the heart of FAO's efforts - to make sure people have regular access to enough
high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. FAO's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition, improve agricultural
productivity, better the lives of rural populations, and contribute to the growth of the world economy. FAO's
activities comprise four main areas: (1) collecting, analyzing and disseminating data that aid development using the
expertise of its staff; (2) sharing expertise in devising agricultural policy, supporting planning and drafting effective
legislation, and creating national strategies to achieve rural development and hunger alleviation goals; (3) acting as a
neutral forum to provide the setting where rich and poor nations can work together to build common
understanding; (4) providing technical expertise to thousands of projects in the field throughout the world, in
traditional development settings as well as crisis situations. In 2010, FAO implemented programs and projects worth
a total value of $903 million USD.
FAO has provided emergency and rehabilitation assistance throughout the DRC since 1998. Its commitment to
supporting the population through some of the most difficult recent periods has led to the development of a solid
relationship with key international and national stakeholders, including the Ministries of Agriculture, Health and
Development, as well as over 200 International and National NGOs. FAO seeks to support the most vulnerable
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members of the population, including malnourished children and their families, returning and repatriated
populations, IDPs and their host families, as well as survivors of sexual violence and recently demobilized soldiers.
In 2011 FAO is implementing a total of 16 projects: eight of them are categorized as emergency, six as rehabilitation
and two related to the reintegration of ex-combatants. Main activities include distributions of agricultural, fishing
and small animal rearing inputs, improved seed multiplication, support to community organizations and associations
of producers, capacity building, transformation and construction of infrastructure for storage and improved access
to markets.
Key Experiences related to Tufaidike Wote:
Rehabilitation programs provide critical assistance to communities transitioning out of a post-conflict phase and into
one of sustained development. Activities in such projects include the establishment of a community-managed food
security surveillance system. Since 2010, reconstruction activities have been designed within the national
stabilization strategy framework, known as STAREC. Supporting the recovery of agricultural activities entails building
local producer capacity to intensify the quality and quantity of production for an improved value chain from
production, transformation, transportation and commercialization of produce. This also requires rehabilitating
essential infrastructure (roads, rural markets and storage capacity). A local Purchasing Unit established in 2008
guarantees in-country capacity to engage in a transparent, competitive and effective purchasing process that
ensures quality goods and services.
In North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, FAO has implemented since 2009 a successful food security program in the early
recovery stage that uses an integrated approach based on a participatory livelihood analysis conducted with target
communities. The project is based on 3 principle interventions:
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Through this program, access to land for farming has been increased via innovative contracts between land
owners and farmers in a win-win approach, and around 13,000 returnees families have been provided with
access to individual plots of land.
This program is intensive in capacity building on best practices in farming and herding, as well as training to
farmers associations in order to enhance both their production and organizational capabilities. In addition,
quality inputs (tools, R1 seeds) have been distributed to these 13,000 farmers in order to improve their
production, associated in 100 farmer´s groups that have been reinforced in the same way.
The third pillar is the improvement of the agricultural value chain, and other than the production, activities
are implemented in order to improve the storage, processing, transport and marketing of crops. These
activities include analysis of the value chain in order to improve our understanding of the links between the
different stakeholders, as well as an important package dedicated to the construction and rehabilitation of
infrastructures, with more than 100 km of access roads rehabilitated, 10 veterinary units built and
operationalized, 10 markets built and 40 warehouses built for processing and storage purposes, with 40
processing machines installed. List of Acron
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