USAID/El Salvador : the first three years of the peace and national recovery project (519-0394) -- lessons learned

This report, prepared by USAID/El Salvador, documents the following lessons learned during the project"s first 3 years. (1) War recovery initiatives should include expert training for USAID management and staff in conflict resolution/consensus building as well as a reconciliation and consensus building component involving the two belligerent parties and USAID. These initiatives should also include beneficiaries in program design and implementation and avoid the compulsion to meet all the needs that are bound to arise, making certain, however, that humanitarian needs are met immediately after the conflict has ceased. (2) Adding war recovery components to existing projects or utilizing available host country owned local currency (HCOLC) can be very effective in ensuring fast start-up of implementation. (3) The Mission must retain the freedom to use some funds for politically unpopular purposes. It should also make sure that all organizations, public and private, being considered for an implementation role understand and support project objectives (and should not assume that institutions that have worked well with USAID in other areas will necessarily work well in a war recovery project). (4) TA will be required in dealing with activities for the war-wounded such as surgery, prosthetic devices, and post-war traumatic disorders. (5) Either the host government or the donor will have to support ex-combatants until they start earning income. (6) If a project is designed without consideration of the special needs of women, they may not be able to benefit equitably from the project. (7) The structure and timing of assistance to the agricultural sector are critical. (8) War recovery projects require a flexible structure capable of multisectoral implementation, participation of NGOs, local coordination with other donors, and, where there is unusual interest in Washington in the project, a sophisticated management information system.