People Affected by Conflict Programme Strategy

Transcription

1 People Affected by Conflict Programme Strategy EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Africa has been scarred by many wars over the past 20 years. Armed conflict not only causes physical devastation to a country s infrastructure, but it also destroys the lives and livelihoods of millions of people. Children and young people are usually the most disproportionately affected by conflict. Not only do they lose out on years of education, but they are regularly abducted or forcefully recruited by armed groups and forces, and subjected to the horrors of war, including maiming, and physical and sexual violence. Insecurity forces millions of families to flee from their homes and many end up living in congested and squalid camp conditions, where a whole generation of children and young people grow up without having experienced life within a traditional and secure family or community setting. This strategy puts the needs and rights of the most vulnerable and marginalised children and young people affected by conflict at the heart of the programme. In doing so the strategy also emphasises the need to take a broader family and community approach to address their needs and rights. The strategy focuses on the education of children and young people, particularly those who have missed out on years of education as a result of war. The strategy also aims to support secure livelihoods for young people and families, and aims to support initiatives that influence how children and young people affected by conflict are able to engage more actively in decisions and policies that affect their lives. All grants made under the people affected by conflict programme will also be expected to demonstrate how the work both responds to the effects of conflict and how it helps to support and promote peace, and how it creates a more protective environment for children and young people. 2. WHY PEOPLE AFFECTED BY CONFLICT? Background According to the World Bank, over the last 20 years nearly all countries in Africa have either experienced a major conflict or been a neighbour to a country that has seen armed conflict. Children, young people and women are some of the most vulnerable people during and after conflict. In modern day conflicts more than 90% of casualties are civilians of which 75% are women and children. Over the last decade more than 2 million children have died as a direct result of armed conflict, and at least 6 million have been maimed or seriously injured. Millions more are affected in other ways such as losing access to healthcare, being forced to flee from their homes, living in constant fear and insecurity, losing community and family protection meaning they become extremely vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. A whole generation of children and young people often lose out on their education and the opportunity to develop vital life skills. They also suffer physically, socially, emotionally and psychologically as result of the war. Millions of families also lose their homes, access to their land and livelihoods as a result of the war, plunging them into even deeper poverty. Intrastate conflicts, which often spill across borders, are a major form of conflict within Africa resulting in small armed groups emerging, many of which regularly abduct children and target young people for recruitment. While it s difficult to give exact figures, it s estimated that around 100,000 children (both boys and girls) have been used by armed groups and forces in some capacity in Africa within the last decade. M09/27

2 Sexual violence is increasingly used as a weapon of war, tearing apart the very fabric of families and communities. Women and girls who have experienced sexual violence are often rejected and stigmatised as damaged goods ; children born as a result of rape or relationships with combatants are commonly stigmatised and rejected by other community members leaving them highly vulnerable and at risk of further abuse. Boys are also at high risk of sexual abuse, but cultural taboos around disclosing this issue make it even harder to reach and support them. The affects of armed conflict are long-lasting, decimating communities and destroying the national infrastructure. The humanitarian response to people affected by conflict, while vital, is often too short-term. Long-term investments need to be made not only to address the impact of the conflict, but crucially to address the causes in order to prevent resurgences in conflict and support solutions for long-term peace, community reconciliation and development. Global Commitments Millennium Development Goals In September 2000, UN Member States made a commitment to achieve eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by While all the MDGs are highly relevant to people affected by conflict across Africa, the most significant MDGs for Comic Relief s people affected by conflict programme strategy are MDG1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education; and MDG 3: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education. Other Significant International Instruments UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides a legal framework and standards for children s rights. This includes two Optional Protocols. Optional Protocol I on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography; and Optional Protocol II on the involvement of children in armed conflict; UN Integrated Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS) are a set of guidelines for implementing good practice; Additional instruments are the Security Council Resolutions 1261, 1539 and 1612 (among many others) on protecting children affected by armed conflict. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child; The Paris Commitments to protect children from unlawful recruitment or use by armed forces or armed groups, and the Paris Principles and Guidelines on Children Associated with Armed Forces and Armed Groups, February ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour, Red Cross/NGO Code of Conduct Global Response In 1996 Graca Machel commissioned a study on the impact of armed conflict on children. The report from the study highlighted the massive scale of violations that children have been experiencing during modern day warfare. As a result of the findings the report (known as The Machel Study) called for the appointment of a UN Special Representative for the Secretary-General to implement the report s recommendations to improve the care and protection of children affected by armed conflict, and to keep the issues affecting them high on the international agenda. The office of the Special Representative also plays the role of monitoring the situation through operational agencies and local organisation in a bid to influence policy and practice. 2

3 In addition to the UN Special Representative, some of the influential policy makers relating to people affected by conflict are the humanitarian UN agencies including United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); and United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF). Others include International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and networks such as Interagency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE). In the UK the Overseas Development Institute - Humanitarian Policy Group (ODI - HPG) provides a useful forum where researchers and information professionals can share learning dedicated to improving policy and practice many of the issues covered address people affected by conflict. Many of the large bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors such as European Union (EU); World Bank; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), United States Agency for International Development Displaced Children & Orphans Fund (USAID -DCOF); Department for International Development (DFID), are also key policy makers in this area of work. How does Comic Relief fit in? Comic Relief came into existence in 1985 to respond to a famine driven by conflict in Ethiopia. Since its inception Comic Relief has continuously received a substantial number of high quality applications responding to conflicts across Africa. A formal conflict programme was established in 1995, and is currently one of the largest programme portfolios with a total spend of over 52 million from 1995 to Though the programme initially focussed on humanitarian relief, in recent years the focus has shifted to investing in long term development programmes. Many of the large humanitarian donors that fund projects during conflict begin to withdraw their support as a country moves from an emergency conflict phase into a post-conflict recovery phase often leaving a funding gap as the development donors establish themselves. Comic Relief aims to support long term development projects across the various phases as this has been identified as being crucial in order to prevent conflicts from escalating and preventing countries emerging from conflict from sliding back into violent warfare. This is niche area of funding that Comic Relief aims fill. Based on the findings of a Conflict Programme impact study in 2008, Comic Relief s people affected by conflict programme now aims to move forward by putting the needs and rights of the most vulnerable and marginalised children and young people affected by conflict at the heart of the programme. In doing so Comic Relief also emphasises the need to take a broader family and community based approach to address the specific needs and rights of children and young people. Comic Relief will focus on the education of children and young people, particularly those who have missed out on years of education as a result of war, in addition to supporting work that aims to secure livelihoods for young people and families. Comic Relief will also support initiatives that influence how children and young people affected by conflict are able to engage more actively in decisions and policies that affect their lives including advocacy work with governments at the national, regional and international level. How the People Affected by Conflict Strategy was developed In 2008 the People Affected by Conflict programme undertook a impact study covering a number of grants made during The methodology included a comprehensive survey of Southern partners, a workshop with UK partners, several consultations in Africa and the UK and a literature review of a number of key reports from the sector. The programme review concluded that a focus on the inclusion of all young people and children would seem to be appropriate given that they are some of the most vulnerable people during and after conflict. The study also confirmed that some of the funding priorities from of education, economic livelihoods and addressing the rights of particularly vulnerable groups provide an appropriate focus for the People Affected by Conflict programme. The review also revealed that projects are more likely to be successful if they are linked in with government structures and policies, such that they are in a strong position to both implement and influence government policies to bring about more systemic change. In addition to this, two specific principles were identified for the people affected by conflict programme namely that of conflict sensitivity and protection which now form part of this strategy. 3

4 The programme strategy will retain a strong people-focused approach to reach those that have been most severely affected by conflict. This will also enable us to track the impact and changes being made to peoples lives more effectively and to support our learning in a more systematic and coherent manner. This in turn will enable us to continue to support areas of work where there is a strong evidence base documenting what works well. In this way, the strategy is based on the findings of the programme review, along with further consultations with NGOs and funders and by examining funding trends and gaps, identifying and prioritising areas of need, and identifying the areas where we have had a demonstrable track record. 3. WHAT WE WANT TO ACHIEVE Our goal is to address long-term peace, reconciliation, reintegration and the protection of children and young people who have been severely affected by conflict. How does Comic Relief believe this change can happen? Comic Relief believes that children and young people can recover from the effects of conflict and help reduce future conflicts through greater protection, participation and livelihood opportunities. We believe that it is essential to take a long-term integrated approach to the needs and rights of children and young people affected by conflict (with particular attention to gender specific issues), in order to strengthen their resilience to recover from conflict, and help protect and prevent them from being drawn into any resurgence or escalation in conflict. We also think it s vital that, wherever possible, initiatives should build on existing forms of social organisation in order to ensure that work is locally driven and owned, and has the greatest likelihood of being sustainable. Comic Relief believes that this can be achieved by: Investing in communities to strengthen protection mechanisms, psychosocial support, reintegration and reconciliation Supporting initiatives that ensure children and young people have access to appropriate and good quality services such as education and legal support. Supporting work that aims to secure livelihoods for young people and vulnerable families. Working directly with children and young people to strengthen their engagement and participation in political and decision making processes and access to their rights, e.g. through civil society engagement and advocacy on issues that affect them. Ensuring that the activities address the impact of the conflict and seek to prevent further conflict and harm. Outcomes Comic Relief wants to know that the projects we fund are bringing about changes in the lives of poor and disadvantaged people. We call these changes programme level outcomes, and define them as the intended or unintended effects or changes to people s lives that happen as a result of the project or organisation s activities. During the period covered by this strategy, we anticipate that the lives of children and young people affected by conflict will be transformed through the following outcomes: Children and young people affected by conflict have improved access to good quality education resulting in skills that increase their life opportunities Improved environments that provide greater and safer livelihood opportunities that support children and young people affected by conflict. 4

5 Children and young people affected by conflict are better protected from exploitation and abuse resulting in greater resilience to mitigate the effects of conflict, and/or the ability to prevent themselves from being drawn into conflict. Children and young people affected by conflict have increased opportunities to participate in civil society in order to influence decisions that affect their lives. Improved government policies, legislation and practice resulting in the better protection of conflict affected children and young people s needs and rights. Geographical Focus Comic Relief recognises that most past and present conflicts in West, East and Central Africa have a regional dimension to them. We have therefore decided to take a regional approach to the People Affected by Conflict programme to try and help develop initiatives that can draw from and build upon regional learning, policy development and advocacy as well as deepen our knowledge about the context of the work we support. The People Affected by Conflict programme will continue to focus exclusively on Africa. We will prioritise funding for work in the conflict-affected countries in Africa where we have a strong history and a demonstrable track record upon which we can build. The priority countries will be: West Africa: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d Ivoire; East and Central Africa: East Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Southern Sudan However, we will still consider work in Africa outside of these countries/regions if they fit well within the strategy, or are particularly innovative or represent an opportunity to inform our learning across the grants portfolio. Target Group The overall aim is to support children and young people affected by conflict in Africa. The primary target group will be children and young people most vulnerable to and most severely affected by conflict, such as: Children and young people who have missed out on their education Young people and vulnerable families in need of livelihood support Marginalised and vulnerable children and young people such as children associated with armed groups/forces; girl mothers and survivors of sexual violence and exploitation. This will also include placing an emphasis on the specific needs of girls and young women and ensuring the inclusion of children and young people with disabilities. The rationale for this is that children and young people are some of the most vulnerable people during conflict and often the most severely affected by the conflict. Experience has shown that it is children and young people who have been targeted by governments and militias when a conflict escalates be it to recruit soldiers, commit acts of violence, including maiming and sexual violence, or to eliminate potential enemies. 5

6 4. UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE VE ACHIEVED AND HOW WE ACHIEVED IT Understanding what difference we have made We want to be able to tell the public what difference our funding has made in each grant-making programme, both in terms of individual stories of change and on a more systematic and aggregated basis. We want to be able to say who we have helped, how many have benefited and in what kinds of ways. We want to understand the extent to which our programmes have brought about lasting changes in the lives of those directly benefiting, as well as changes in policy. We will ask grantees to provide information on progress towards their project outcomes on an annual basis, at the end of the grant period and through external evaluations, using outcomes and indicators that they agree with us at the start of the project. Understanding how we made a difference We are also committed to learning from the work that we fund, so we can understand not only what difference we have made, but how changes to people s lives happen. For example we want to test out our assumptions about the key factors that create change for our target groups, and find out which approaches or methodologies work better than others in different contexts. We also want to know which types of local organisations are most effective in supporting change for different groups in a variety of contexts, and how relationships between, and inputs from, partner organisations and other stakeholders, including Comic Relief, help or hinder the delivery of change. Some cross-cutting issues that we are also interested in include education, sport, disability and gender. Alongside these broad questions above, which we will explore through all the work that we fund, we have developed specific learning questions for each programme to help us gain more in-depth understanding of some of the assumptions underpinning our work in different contexts. For the People Affected by Conflict programme, these are: Is engaging children and young people in decision making processes an important or effective way of addressing the causes of conflict and in preventing further conflict? If so, how and why is this effective? It is often argued that disenfranchised and marginalised youth are not only one of the most vulnerable groups in society in need of support, but also one of the most potentially volatile groups whose needs and rights if not adequately addressed, can be one of the key drivers of conflict. What are the most effective family and community mechanisms for ensuring that children and young people are protected from exploitation and abuse in a conflict affected environment? The family and community is seen as the primary and most effective mechanism through which children and young people (particularly girls and young women) can be protected against exploitation and abuse. We are interested in learning about community protection mechanisms and how they can be strengthened in a conflict context. Is supporting conflict affected children and young people with access to quality education the best way for them to recover from the effects of war? If so, what attributes of quality education are most and least effective in a conflict context? It is argued that education is not only a basic right that many children are denied because of conflict, but that it also helps protect children, helps them recover from conflict, gives children hope and opportunities for the future, and helps build peaceful societies. We d therefore like to investigate how effective education actually is for supporting conflict affected children recover from war. Drawing from programme evidence, we would also like to analyse what contributes to quality education and why? 6

7 What are the key elements needed to ensure that conflict affected families and young people have sustainable and secure livelihoods? Secure and sustainable livelihoods are seen as essential for reducing poverty (and thus preventing many children and young people being drawn into armed groups), recovering from war; preventing children and young people from being exploited and strengthening a families resilience to the effects of war. We would therefore like to investigate how secure livelihoods can best be achieved in a conflict affected context. Learning Activities We want to take every opportunity to collect the evidence needed to address these learning questions. We expect most Comic Relief grantees to address some of these learning questions in their work. For example projects can include funding for action research in relation to one or more learning questions either at application stage, or though top-up funding over the life of the grant. Annual reports will ask for any evidence grantees may have collected over the year in relation to learning questions, either through systematic research or more anecdotal reflection by staff. We also expect externally commissioned evaluations to address any learning questions relevant to the project. We may also commission independent research, including literature reviews to get an overview of existing evidence. Programme Manager visits to projects, and discussions with staff and those benefiting from the project will also provide important insights into the issues raised by the learning questions. Learning activities around these questions could also include building communities of practice between grantees working on common themes so that they can share and document their experiences. We will share what we learn through dedicated reports, ongoing learning meetings both in the UK and overseas with grantees and other donors, and through online learning environments. We are committed to applying what we learn, in order to help our grantees deliver change more effectively; to improve our policies and processes, and our performance as a grantmaker; and to support our advocacy and public education work. 7