Evaluation of the project 0016 trauma and humanitarian assistance for the Former Yugoslavia

The evaluation considers the performance of eight grantees: International Action against Hunger (AICF/USA); America's Development Foundation (ADF), Center for Attitudinal Healing (CAH), and the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma); the Society for Psychological Assistance (SPA -- Catholic Relief Service's Croatian counterpart); Delphi; the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Save the Children Federation (SCF). The combined efforts of the eight grantees and their various partners have produced tangible results: otherwise unusable hospitals, schools, public meeting places, and offices are now functional following the installation of windows and gutters and repair of roofs and walls. Less tangible but no less important have been the creation and strengthening of local NGOs. The project either has reached or has the potential to reach a large proportion of the population. For example, SCF is facilitating the creation of 770 community preschools; IRC has reached more than 10,000 beneficiaries in a variety of programs under its umbrella grant; AICF distributed seeds to 377,000 people in Travnik Canton in Bosnia during 1995; CRS/SPA have trained more than 600 professional caregivers; and Delphi's STAR project, emphasizing communication through e-mail, magazines, and newsletters, has the potential to reach huge numbers of women and their families in three countries (Bosnia, Croatia, and Macedonia). Some programs, such as ADF's legal assistance and advocacy programs, are struggling to bring about changes within existing structures. Others, like ADF's advocacy, legal, aid, and human rights work, are focused on trying to bring about peace through civil society. SCF, IRC, CAH, Delphi, CRS/SPA, and eventually Harvard (whose program is not yet operational) are working to heal members of the war-torn society through a variety of interventions -- group and individual therapy, support groups, dance and art therapy, chess, music, sports, ceramics, occupational training -- many of which are new to Croatia and Bosnia. Attempts at ethnic reconciliation have been meager, but the most deliberate of these have been made by ADF, AICF, and IRC. The grantees have faced serious constraints, including host government hostility, shifting donor emphasis from Croatia to Bosnia, and the changing needs of affected populations. Most PVOs consider the governments of both Croatia and Bosnia as unfriendly toward NGOs and unhappy about the possible ramifications of citizen empowerment, with Croatia perhaps more ready to act on its antipathy. Moreover, the PVOs operate in an environment of deep divisions between ethnic groups, where rapid efforts to ensure equity among ethnic groups may exacerbate intergroup resentments. However, despite these tensions, particularly over salaries and benefits given to PVO personnel, some government officials recognize that their countries benefit from a skilled group of experts. USAID's management of the project has been characterized by frequent project officer turnover in Washington and a division of management responsibilities among USAID/W, the Budapest-based controller's office, and USAID/Zagreb (and more recently, USAID/Sarajevo). Additionally, PVOs have had difficulty in obtaining timely guidance from USAID, and some have experienced budget and funding problems.