Peace in East and Central Africa (PEACE II) program : final evaluation report

(IBTCI) was contracted to perform the final performance evaluation of USAID/East Africa"s (USAID/EA) Peace in East and Central Africa II (PEACE II) program. The five-year PEACE II program was USAID/EA"s primary conflict mitigation activity in terms of financial investment and profile, and operated from 2007-2012. The Cooperative Agreement (CoAg) was awarded to PACT in September 30, 2007 and the program ended on December 31, 2012, and was managed by the USAID Regional Conflict Management and Governance Office (RCMG). PEACE II program activities were active in multiple peace corridors along the Kenya-Somalia border and in one corridor on the Kenya-Uganda border. In the context of PEACE II, peace corridors are considered discrete geographic zones with notable historical cross-border activity, as well as evidence of cross-border or inter-clan conflict. Most peace corridors consist of two townships, one on either side of the targeted border. This is an evidence-based evaluation that investigates the effectiveness of PEACE II in: (1) building community conflict prevention, mitigation, and response capacity; and (2) improving security in targeted communities. The evaluation also supported USAID/EA to learn which theories of change (ToCs) proved valid, which ones did not, and, where monitoring and evaluation (M&E) data was not sufficient, to make a validity determination. Based on the evidence, the PEACE II projects and activities were largely successful as mechanisms to facilitate peacebuilding, trauma healing, social reconciliation, peace networking and cross-border interaction and collaboration between communities. They successfully leveraged existing community peace mechanisms such as the Peace Committees, elders, womens and youth groups, traditional and culture-specific trauma healing and training mechanisms, and response networks to build additional and enhanced capacities for change in the corridors. (Excerpt, modified)