Humanitarian Protection in the Liptako-Gourma region
Lead Research Organisation:
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Department Name: SAHEL West Africa Programme
Abstract
The proposed 2-year project (2020-2022) by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and local research partners, namely the Centre for Democratic Governance (CGD) in Burkina Faso, Point Sud in Mali and the Laboratoire d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local (LASDEL) in Niger, focuses on the Liptako-Gourma region, encompassing Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Since 2015, this border region has become the epicenter of the Sahel crisis and both state and non-state armed groups have committed serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Despite several national and international initiatives, the number of conflict-related victims has increased from 199 in 2012 to 1 464 in 2018, with a significant increase of IDPs, food insecurity, school closures, and gender-based violence.
Several factors are at play, such as the absence of the state, the competition over natural resources, violent extremism, or the proliferation of self-protection militias and climate change. The project will focus on impact of restraint (theme 3) and impact of local protection mechanisms (theme 4), with diversity/gender as a crosscutting theme. The project will be structured around the following research questions: What are the protection threats, risks and vulnerabilities across the different groups of the population of Liptako-Gourma? What local protection mechanism do they use? On which social norms and rules are they based? What is the relation between local protection mechanisms and restraint from violence? Are there risks for people to protect themselves? How do humanitarian protection responses interact with local protection mechanisms (positive, neutral or negative)? How do the different groups of the population assess the impact of humanitarian responses on their own protection and safety? How can humanitarian protection optimally complement and support local protection mechanisms, without having any possible unintended negative consequences?
The project aims to address the knowledge gaps and identify perceptions, priorities and needs of local populations in order (i) to document the situations at the grass-root level, (ii) to improve the effectiveness of DRC cycles of humanitarian protection programmes, and (iii) to support all relevant stakeholders through evidence-based analysis in better understanding the priorities of affected communities. To do so, the project will use a mixed research approach of quantitative surveys and qualitative studies led by networks of trained facilitators and researchers in each country to (a) better understand security and humanitarian issues at the micro-local level and; (b) measure the relevance and impact of humanitarian protection interventions in the region.
Dedicated publications, regional events (validation/national sharing workshops, regional conference, practitioner meeting) and outputs (press conferences, video films) will allow a large dissemination of the findings and contribute to maximise the overall impact of the project. To ensure a long-term impact and sustainability of the project, the proposal also develops a capacity-building component for facilitators and researchers in the three countries in order to develop a local ownership of the methodology and working relations between partners in the three countries.
Several factors are at play, such as the absence of the state, the competition over natural resources, violent extremism, or the proliferation of self-protection militias and climate change. The project will focus on impact of restraint (theme 3) and impact of local protection mechanisms (theme 4), with diversity/gender as a crosscutting theme. The project will be structured around the following research questions: What are the protection threats, risks and vulnerabilities across the different groups of the population of Liptako-Gourma? What local protection mechanism do they use? On which social norms and rules are they based? What is the relation between local protection mechanisms and restraint from violence? Are there risks for people to protect themselves? How do humanitarian protection responses interact with local protection mechanisms (positive, neutral or negative)? How do the different groups of the population assess the impact of humanitarian responses on their own protection and safety? How can humanitarian protection optimally complement and support local protection mechanisms, without having any possible unintended negative consequences?
The project aims to address the knowledge gaps and identify perceptions, priorities and needs of local populations in order (i) to document the situations at the grass-root level, (ii) to improve the effectiveness of DRC cycles of humanitarian protection programmes, and (iii) to support all relevant stakeholders through evidence-based analysis in better understanding the priorities of affected communities. To do so, the project will use a mixed research approach of quantitative surveys and qualitative studies led by networks of trained facilitators and researchers in each country to (a) better understand security and humanitarian issues at the micro-local level and; (b) measure the relevance and impact of humanitarian protection interventions in the region.
Dedicated publications, regional events (validation/national sharing workshops, regional conference, practitioner meeting) and outputs (press conferences, video films) will allow a large dissemination of the findings and contribute to maximise the overall impact of the project. To ensure a long-term impact and sustainability of the project, the proposal also develops a capacity-building component for facilitators and researchers in the three countries in order to develop a local ownership of the methodology and working relations between partners in the three countries.
Planned Impact
The project's impact will be determined according to the three following pillars:
1. Dissemination and advocacy
Beyond the internal validation processes, the project's findings will be presented through selected publications and dedicated public events gathering policy-makers representatives from national institutions, foreign embassies, IOs, UN, EU, AU, regional organisations (ECOWAS, G5 Sahel), CSOs, national and international NGOs, media and academics. These events will take place in the three countries' capitals and in Dakar where DRC's regional headquarters are located. A mid-term report will be published in 2021 and the final report in 2022. Press conferences and video films will complement that pillar in order to maximise the project visibility and impact by targeting a greater diversity of audiences.
2. Evidence-based programming and integration of the project lessons learned
At each stage of the research process, SIPRI will work closely with DRC to include practitioners' priorities and lessons learned. DRC will adapt the main findings to their own humanitarian and protection programmes, in close coordination with Danish Demining Group's staff in the Liptako-Gourma. The project will disseminate the results and added value of evidence-based programming to the broader humanitarian community and target groups in order to ensure that the research uptake goes beyond DRC. Within the Protection Cluster, the project will also directly benefit from the cluster's feedbacks and inputs from staffs in the fields.
3. Long-term impact and sustainability
Project staff in the three countries will benefit from dedicated and tailored trainings designed to improve their quantitative/qualitative/dissemination skills on the long run. Teaching materials will be shared with other researchers in order to support continuous learning in each institute. The project will also represent an opportunity for each partner to develop working relations and to promote new cooperation habits among them. The creation of an online group platform will be developed as an information sharing tool on the Liptako-Gourma region.
During the dissemination phase, public events will systematically gather, inter alia, groups of populations and governments' representatives. The sustainability of new communication's channels between the populations and their representatives is considered to be one of the most important objectives to achieve.
The project's materials will be made available to all interested audiences. Policy-makers, researchers, practitioners, civil society actors and journalists will have the opportunity to access the project's main findings and methodology, and engage with the project's staff on the research and possible replications to other regions and contexts.
1. Dissemination and advocacy
Beyond the internal validation processes, the project's findings will be presented through selected publications and dedicated public events gathering policy-makers representatives from national institutions, foreign embassies, IOs, UN, EU, AU, regional organisations (ECOWAS, G5 Sahel), CSOs, national and international NGOs, media and academics. These events will take place in the three countries' capitals and in Dakar where DRC's regional headquarters are located. A mid-term report will be published in 2021 and the final report in 2022. Press conferences and video films will complement that pillar in order to maximise the project visibility and impact by targeting a greater diversity of audiences.
2. Evidence-based programming and integration of the project lessons learned
At each stage of the research process, SIPRI will work closely with DRC to include practitioners' priorities and lessons learned. DRC will adapt the main findings to their own humanitarian and protection programmes, in close coordination with Danish Demining Group's staff in the Liptako-Gourma. The project will disseminate the results and added value of evidence-based programming to the broader humanitarian community and target groups in order to ensure that the research uptake goes beyond DRC. Within the Protection Cluster, the project will also directly benefit from the cluster's feedbacks and inputs from staffs in the fields.
3. Long-term impact and sustainability
Project staff in the three countries will benefit from dedicated and tailored trainings designed to improve their quantitative/qualitative/dissemination skills on the long run. Teaching materials will be shared with other researchers in order to support continuous learning in each institute. The project will also represent an opportunity for each partner to develop working relations and to promote new cooperation habits among them. The creation of an online group platform will be developed as an information sharing tool on the Liptako-Gourma region.
During the dissemination phase, public events will systematically gather, inter alia, groups of populations and governments' representatives. The sustainability of new communication's channels between the populations and their representatives is considered to be one of the most important objectives to achieve.
The project's materials will be made available to all interested audiences. Policy-makers, researchers, practitioners, civil society actors and journalists will have the opportunity to access the project's main findings and methodology, and engage with the project's staff on the research and possible replications to other regions and contexts.
Publications
| Description | 1. Research findings and evidence-based recommendations of the two rounds of perception surveys conducted in the Liptako-Gourma region (2020 and 2021) have been included in DRC's 2021- 25 cycle of humanitarian protection programmes in the region. Evidence-based research focused on restraint and local protection mechanism and provide a better understanding of the drivers of humanitarian protection risks. 2. The findings have been included in DRC 2021-2025 programming both internally (in strategic planning, inform integrated programming selection between protection, social cohesion/AVR and economic recovery) and externally (project proposals to donors (including ECHO, DANIDA, BHA, FCDO, GFFO). 3. The findings have been key to push and engage with DRC's global strategy 22/25, especially to prepare countries to engage with partners and plan for increased localization. It further highlighted the strong importance of having ongoing protection analysis, which are now running in all 6 countries of the region, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso (using the Protection Analytical Framework). The award provided the necessary push and data to ensure stronger commitment from senior management teams. 4. Recommendations based on the research findings have been presented during the Sahel Ministerial round table (October 2020) and the preparational meeting with Senior officials (September 2020), especially focusing on inclusive dialogue, socio economic inclusion of youth and the development of indicators. https://www.unocha.org/centralsahel2020 5. Co-organised by the Danish and German government, UNOCHA and ECHO, DRC and UNHCR facilitated a joint side event on 16 October 2020 within the framework of the Sahel Ministerial roundtable. The side event focused on the importance of documenting the protection situation and measuring changes. SIPRI's Director presented the evidence-based programming. 6. In November 2021, DRC and SIPRI co-hosted a. joint session at the Stockholm Security Conference "Civilians under attack in the Liptako-Gourma Region". Discussions were based on the research conducted on humanitarian protection in the Liptako-Gourma along with UNHCR and SFCG as panelists. 7. Sustainability of project results has been ensured by strengthening quantitative and qualitative research skills of project staff of the three research partners in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Access to teaching materials allows staff to reinforce skills when needed. The established working relations between the three partner organisations has created a network for communication and knowledge exchange. The collaboration between a research institute and a practioner organization has been extremely fruitful in terms of research and opportunity. The SIPRI has also initiated discussions with other humanitarian actors including UNHCR. The major award objectives have been met while some had to be postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 1. Capacity-building on multidisciplinary (quantitative and qualitative) research methods of local research partners in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso has been strengthened. Project researchers in the three countries have benefited from trainings designed to improve their quantitative/qualitative skills. Capacity-building was built on the collaboration between the three research centers - according to their expertise - but in 2020, due to COVID-19, it was not possible to travel to conduct the training courses in quantitative and qualitative research. Trainers were identified in each of the three countries and SIPRI coordinated the trainings from Stockholmn to ensure the coherence. Teaching materials have been shared with each institute. In 2021, a training on qualitative research was provided by LASDEL, the training on Kobo and quantitative research by CGD and each team was trained on protection by DRC. 2. Coordinated by SIPRI, the first year's round of perception surveys was conducted inthe regions of Sahel and North in Burkina Faso, the Mopti region in Mali and in the Tillabéri region in Niger in August and September 2020. Local facilitators carried out the data collection and local researchers conducted complementary qualitative studies in September. During the field work the teams were supported by the DRC country teams. IThe second round of survey was conducted in June 2021 in the region of North in Burkina Faso, Mopti region in Mali and Tillaberi region in Niger. The Sahel region was not accessible in June 2021. 3. On 3 November 2020, both the quantitative and qualitative research results were discussed on line and validated during a validation workshop in which all consortium partners participated. 4. In September 2021, both the quantitative and qualitative research results were discussed and validated during a validation workshop with consortium partners, and the day after presented with DRC to the humanitarian community in Dakar. 5. In 2020 and 2021, following the validation workshops, the research and its main conclusions was presented to the humanitarian community in all 3 countries, during an extraordinary session of the protection cluster, opened to donors and other stakeholders. 6. The analysis of collected quantitative and qualitative data are presented in the comprehensive report 'La protection humanitaire dans la région du Liptako-Gourma; Mécanismes locaux de protection et réponse humanitaire'. ´This report plus the accompanying workshops have led to a better understanding of the drivers of humanitarian protection risks. The research findings allow for a comprehensive evidence-based picture of the situation in the region and provided a better assessment of the situation and stakeholders. 7. In 2021, research findings have also been disseminated among the humanitarian community, the Protection Cluster, local civil society and donors active in Liptako-Gourma regarding restraint and local protection mechanisms. 8. Events that were supposed to take place in the three capitals (Niamey, Ouagadougou and Bamako) and in the regional hub Dakar have been postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but took place in November and December 2022. |
| Exploitation Route | 1. The main findings of the first year of research strengthened the approach that DRC uses to develop the DRC central-Sahel strategy based on the 3 multi annual country strategies as developed in January 21, and confirmed in the periodic review of the strategies done in 21 and 22. Sector-specific responses have been developed in protection, food security and economic recovery, coordination, peacebuilding and armed violence reduction. This methodology is now based on the following four pillars: 1. Use protection information and analysis for evidence-based programming and responses, ensure feed back to the population of concern and adapt responses accordingly. 2. Design responses which provide a continuum (nexus approach), strengthening the resilience of the population of concern. Responses are based on a protection risk analysis. Sector-specific responses are developed in protection, food security and economic recovery, coordination, peacebuilding and armed violence reduction. 3. Work in complementarity with and to strengthen existing stakeholders, technical services, community-based mechanisms. 4. Accompany communities in their resilience mechanisms by adaptation to the context and strategies for non-engagement and peaceful resolution of conflicts. 2. Research findings and subsequent evidence-based recommendations were included in the ECHO-HIP proposals (2 in Mali, 1 in Niger and 3 in Burkina Faso in 2021, 1 in Mali, 3 in Burkina Faso and 1 in Niger in 2022, 1 in Mali, 2 in Niger, 3 in Burkina Faso for 2023). 3. Research findings and subsequent evidence-based recommendations are included in the BHA proposals (Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, in 2021, 2022 and 2023). 4. Research findings were used as an initial context assessment to frame a multi-year integrated/ nexus programme. The programme ("Shift") was submitted and funded by DANIDA. It is targeting the youths and displaced, focus on socio-economic inclusion, strengthening of community-based protection and local service providers, complementarity of protection assistance mechanisms and a cross cutting approach on social cohesion and peaceful conflict resolution). 5. The second round of research (June 2021) has provided further analysis on local protection mechanism and their links with humanitarian assistance. It was key in the development of the humanitarian cycles of successful proposals involving DRC and the following donors: ECHO, CDCS, SDC, BHA, Government of the Netherlands, SIDA and DANIDA. It also pushed for the adaptation of a current proposal to FCDO based around capacity building and resourcing of an RRM relying solely on local actors. 6. All projects now have a stronger community engagement approach, and most programmes move towards a greater integrated approach. 7. The framework of action (evidences and advocacy; engagement with stakeholders; direct response in the nexus; monitoring changes and innovation) served as the base of the Theory of change for the Sahel Regional Fund (SRF), which provide fundings to INGO/NGO set in consortia, for multi- country/ multi annual responses. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy,Other |
| Description | The long term impacts of the award are not yet measurable. DRC has engaged strong initiatives to adapt its responses and organisation, including in the development of an operational unit, to better support and follow multi-country projects in the region, all of which have integrated programming at their core, focus on youths as the population most at risk and addressing the priority of local integration and community engagement. The 22/25 strategy further set clear goals for DRC commitments and approaches. Including on the internal architecture, staffing and programmatic priorities. It is not possible to weigh the influence of the research on the direction and changes that DRC undergo. What can be said is: • The conclusion of the research are fully aligned with the strategy, even when the initial analysis differs: the Global analysis being based on global trends, whilst the research provided local analysis. Both global and local provided the necessary push for countries to take significant decision and commitment to change, including on: integrated programming, engagement in longer term projects, engagement with local stakeholders, community engagement, review and improvement of accountability. • The research was used in successful proposals, including some that were "innovative", by DRC standards: engaging in "development" programmes, implemented by/ ni complementarity with national partners, focusing on "youths". • The research is referred as a good practice of collaboration between academics and practitioners. • The conclusions have been shared to over 100 stakeholders, and confirmed by other data sets and analysis, including by GTS on humanitarian accountability in Burkina Faso, REACH's MSA/MSNA , the P21, OXFAM's analysis on the CSO. Challenges overcome to achieve impact 1. Travel restrictions Due to COVID-19, international travel was not possible, and meetings between SIPRI, DRC and implementing partners had to take place online. Public events have been postponed in2020, 2021 and 2022. DRC resumed normal operations in the region as soon as septembre 2020, with moments where movements were withheld when countries were changnig ther guidelines. End of 2021 there has been further restrictions towards Mali due to the degradaton of the relations between the government (not recognized as legitimate) and its niternational partners (ECOWAS, international community) There has been no travel restrictions in 2021 2. Research: The main challenge encountered during both research phase was the accessibility of planned survey locations in Mali and Niger due to insecurity. Following the assassination of the 7 humanitarian workers in Kouré, Niger on August 9, 2020, several military operations were conducted in the Tillabery region and nigerien researchers were discouraged to carry out research in the zone. The impact of inaccessibility was mitigated by replacing the quantitative surveys by qualitative interviews amongst the original target groups who had move to safer places (IDPs). Second, although the facilitators of the research were selected from local populations, there was a language barrier particularly with IDP. This impact was mitigated by the use of local translators. In 2021,the security situation worsened in Burkina Faso and the region of Sahel was abandoned but in Mali and Niger, all localities were accessible. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2020 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy,Other |
| Impact Types | Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | Influence on DRC programme cycle and the broader humanitarian community |
| Geographic Reach | Africa |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Given the number of research, analysis and change in the context driven by stakeholders, it is difficult to isolate the impact and influence of this particular piece of research. Notwithstanding, the projects' influence is clearly visible at the level of both DRC 2021 and 2022 programme cycle, as well as in the 2022/25 strategies, the broader understanding of organization and humanitarian community. The findings of the research have confirmed, through a scientific approach, intuitions and provided a clear assessment of the situation and stakeholders active in the region. During the length of the award, further researches done at local, national or regional level have confirmed the conclusions. As such, the research has to be considered within the body of researches, analysis and information gathering systems that, together, have pushed the humanitarian agenda in the following direction: • Improved consideration for the agenda of localization and community-engagement. • Improved consideration to engage humanitarian assistance in the nexus and strenghtening actions to address root causes, solutions to displacement, through development and peace responses. • Increased consideration of the "youth" age group (15/24) and an intersectional approach to gender, age, marginality to address protection risks. • Increased recognition of the role of local stakeholders and services as main actors of the humanitarian response, and their engagement to address toot causes and solutions. • Increased engagement between the humanitarian sectors, in particular Peace building stakeholders, Economic Recovery sector (Food security, livelihood, social protection systems) and protection response. • Increased investment in Accountability towards Affected Populations (AAP). Both reports on "La protection humanitaire dans la région du Liptako-Gourma; Mécanismes locaux de protection et réponse humanitaire" have been shared with donors and humanitarian actors. The first report has been launched in March 21, to ensure that it was not competing with other priorities of the humanitarian actors (HIP21, BHA 21 and Regional protection analysis/P21), whilst be made available to donors on time for them to consider the conclusion of the report for their next funding cycle. Country-led presentation of the report have been done at country level between march and july 21. The second report's data has been presented in October 21 to the humanitarian community (122 unique participants online and 50 in the conference room), to ensure that the conclusions and recommendation were available to the wider audiencefor them to have the opportunity to include them in their risk analysis and response for the 22 funding cycle. The main conclusions of the report have been used to develop key advocacy messages during the SOM2 (January 2022), which were carried by a group of international NGO and coordinations in direct discussions with the following capitals and stakeholders: Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Geneva/UN, Brussels/EU-ECHO. The main messages on protection were also with the Global Protection Cluster and led to a note on West Africa published in January. The final report has been presented in November 22 at the regional level, and in Q4 2022 in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, to an audience of organisations engaged in the humanitarian response and in funding the response. In Q4 2022 the results have also been fed back to population of concern, in 4 communities. The feed back aimed at confirming the general conclusions and recommendations, as well as to further engage in the confirmation of the response and solution. Community engagement (feed back/ dialogues). |
| Title | Perception Surveys |
| Description | Many of the persisting conflicts are concentrated in the fragile middle or low-income countries (Kim & Conceição, 2010). While researching such fragile areas, one significant issue that researchers have to deal with is the lack of reliable baseline statistics (World Bank, 2012). While this does create problems in designing sampling frames, the primary concern remains that researchers often do not have objective indicators to make policy suggestions for government and non-governmental organisations. Such challenges often necessitate innovative solutions, and perceptions surveys have played an essential role in bridging the gap. Perception surveys like the World Bank survey of well-being via instant frequent tracking (SWIFT) are a cost-effective tool to assess poverty (Idris, 2019). The perception surveys are useful in generating information about the respondent's opinion on governmental and non-governmental interventions. They help shed light on how respondents think or feel about their socio-political and economic conditions. Such surveys redirect focus on the respondent's lived experience and reality in contrast to objective living conditions. The emphasis on subjective reality is an important feature, as there could be vast differences between objective reality and subjective experiences of respondents. Perceptions surveys can produce information about knowledge and awareness of particular issues, experiences with respect so services, beliefs, values,attitudes, opinions and expectations (Herbert, 2013; Hilker & Kangas, 2011; SLRC, 2013). Over some time, there has been an increase in the use of perception surveys by the international development community (Parks, 2012). The popularity of the perception surveys arises from the fact that they are a means of collecting information about the intangible issues. For example, in Mali, data could be collected about the effectiveness or approachability of the Malian Armed Forces or the MINUSMA from the respondents, a piece of information that would otherwise remain inaccessible through traditional objective indicators (Herbert, 2013; Hilker & Kangas, 2011). |
| Type Of Material | Physiological assessment or outcome measure |
| Year Produced | 2018 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | A common area where perception surveys play a considerable role is in the understanding of citizen-state communication. They are used to assess if the communication of government policies is effective and has the necessary reach to elevate the quality of life of its citizens (Herbert, 2013). As already pointed out, official data is scarce in areas of conflict, and perception surveys can be instrumental in balancing information asymmetries (Herbert, 2013) and challenge any untested assumptions or stereotypes about regions. Such, untested assumptions often have detrimental effects on potential investments which could drive economic growth and social cohesion. However, the most significant selling point for perception surveys remains that it can make a distinction between the expert opinion and the citizen or respondent's opinion (Herbert, 2013). While data on education levels of citizens in a country could be instrumental in assessing a government's commitment to public education, it does not give much information about the quality of the education. Neither does it provide the researcher with any information about the utility of that education. This information can be gathered from the citizens by using perception surveys, thus gauging their satisfaction with the education system. Therefore perception surveys can be the bridge between the local community and the international development organisations, the national and local government. Lastly, since perception measures are subjective, they react to changes that respondents experience. If respondents feel more secure in their local areas that they did three months back, then a longitudinal study would be well-positioned to pick up those immediate changes. |
| Title | DFID data |
| Description | Sampling: The study includes populations in three different countries as the Liptako-Gourma region is spread across these three countries - Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Due to the lack of a recent Census in Mali, we have used OCHA population estimates to calculate the area's total population. The zones of influences (villages) were identified through discussion with partners. Since village level census data is unavailable, we use commune-level population estimates to calculate the total population living in the areas of influence. For our project, we used a 95% confidence interval and a +/-3 % error margin to calculate the size - interpretation being that if the same survey was conducted in the field a 100 times, we could expect the results of the survey to be within three percentage points of the actual population estimates 95 times. Data collection: The questionnaire was designed and implemented using Kobo Toolbox. Kobo was used by the facilitators for data entry. Thereafter the data collected was exported out in the form of excel files for cleaning and analysis. Data Analysis: We have used to Stata to clean data in the excel files and generate preliminary tables for analysis. The data once cleaned has been stored in the form of a Stata data file for further analysis and use. Important data points that are important for reports and presentations have been exported from Stata to Tableau to generate graphs. Tableau has been used primarily as a data visualisation tool. In contrast, Stata has been primarily used for data cleaning, analysis and management. |
| Type Of Material | Data analysis technique |
| Year Produced | 2020 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | N/A |
| Description | DRC - Local Organisations |
| Organisation | Danish Refugee Council |
| Country | Denmark |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The award has been key to the implementation of both the partnership agenda and the evidence-based programming priority of DRC in central Sahel. The award led to partnership agreements with 7 organizations and networks based in the Sahel region in the first year and over 15 end of 2022. Partners were identified for their capacity to access communities and the groups which are specifically identified as vulnerable in the findings of the research: youths, women, displaced populations and pastoralists. The development of these partnerships is directly related to the award based on the fact that the research confirmed the need for DRC to adapt processes and engage with local partners. Findings confirmed intuitions about the necessity to change the way DRC interact with local protection stakeholders and strengthened the importance of engagement in the change of organizational culture. The research was instrumental to DRC to engage more with local protection mechanisms and partners. With time it is more complex to isolate the direct link between the research and the organisational change, as the process led to snowball-effects. The engagement with local protection mechanisms and structures developed to further engage with decentralized services and authorities. For example in Burkina Faso case management is done through a partnership and support from DRC to the Ministry of Action Sociale. This to avoid competition/ duplication and harm done to duty bearers. In 2022 DRC received an important funding from FCDO to set up and host the Sahel Response Fund (SRF). The SRF finances INGO/NGO consortia in the Sahel on multi year responses. Its core principles have been directly and indirectly based on recommendations from the action research. All financed consortia have to : • Ensure the centrality of protection and include protection responses • Show complementarity with other responses and local protection mechanism • Show an engagement in the nexus (not only emergency response). • Engage and have equitable partnerships with local organisations. Within the partnership with FCDO, DRC is supported to develop a Rapid Response mechanism (RRM) based and led by local partners. Over 60% of the budget is directly managed by them. |
| Collaborator Contribution | N/A |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | SIPRI - DRC |
| Organisation | Danish Refugee Council |
| Country | Denmark |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | The award has strenghthend the collaboration between SIPRI and DRC and both organizations wished to collaborate in another project. SIPRI and DRC are part of a consortium led by WANEP to implement the project "Research & Action for Peace Network (REcAP Network)" funded by the EU. The project has a duration of 36 months and started on February 1st, 2022. The overall objective is to strengthen the role for civil societyand research institutes in effective peacebuilding, crisis prevention of conflict and violent extremism in West Africa and the Lake Chad Basin to enable more informed decision making by policy makers. To answer this objective, a Research & Action for Peace Network (REcAP Network) has been recently established and launched in WA & LCB. This regional network of experts specialised in peacebuilding, prevention of conflicts and violent extremism acts as an interactive platform for regional cooperation among existing expert networks, think-tanks, CSOs, implementing partners, and governments. It will foster experiential learning, production of knowledge and scientific information and provide conflict-sensitive, neutral and objective grounds for discussions, debates and cross-learning. It will also support the implementation of coherent and evidence-based strategies to enhance peace and human security in 18 countries through advocacy activities targeting implementing actors, policy and institutional decision-makers. In addition, the REcAP network will also promote exchanges of expertise and best practices among professionals from West Africa, the Lake Chad Basin and Europe. Finally, capacity building and training programmes will be developed to enhance the skills of civil society actors and other relevant stakeholders to adapt their intervention strategies. The network was officially launched in Dakar, Senegal on the 2nd of February 2023, with a hybrid event that brought together over 60 participants across the region including members of the REcAP Network project consortium, representatives of the Delegation of the EU to Senegal, as well as representatives of the diplomatic corps and the international community, including the Economic Community of West African Sates. An interactive online platform is also under development and will be launched in the coming weeks. |
| Collaborator Contribution | WANEP, DRC and SIPRI drafted the entire project proposal in a cooperative manner, with each partner leading on the areas where their expertise was mostly needed. Each partner is represented by a member in each body of the project, such as the Secretariat, the Steering Committee, and the Scientific Committee. As WANEP is the lead organization of the project, it also retains the overall management of the project via a Project Coordinator. |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | SIPRI - UNHCR |
| Organisation | United Nations (UN) |
| Department | United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | This project has resulted in a partnership between SIPRI-UNHCR for a research project on forced displacements in the Liptako-Gourma region (2021). The research in this project studied the impact of forced displacements in the Liptako-Gourma on urban centers. The objective was to help inbuilding strategies on concrete needs and identified problems related to long-term displacements. The research has been completed and a new research is under development. The new research will interrogate the "youth" category in the central Sahel region. The focus is on youth perceptions of their experiences of displacement, protection needs, and exit strategies. The research will be based on data collected over 2 or 3 years in urban areas of the Liptako-Gourma region with displaced and refugee youth (18-25 years old). The research will gather quantitative and qualitative data about youth displacement experiences and examine their experiences, perceptions, risks and exposures, and preferences. Data and analysis may be useful to the UN, NGOs and partners working in the region to support their programming. The research will examine key policy and programmatic implications of these findings. The main points of interest are: - Monitoring the evolution of individual security perceptions and specific protection issues - Collecting and following ethnographic narratives of selected individuals about their daily life, struggles, expectations, and (exit-) strategies - Following IDP and refugee youth in addition to rural/urban residents ones over three regions and countries - Assessing the reasons and means for internal/ regional/ transborder mobility The award has increased the visibility of SIPRI among the humanitarian community and has broadened the scope of SIPRI's work. SIPRI is also member of the steering committee of the P21 project, a regional protection monitoring and analysis capacity hosted by DRC and UNHCR. The P21 deploys 3000 questionnaires per month, in Burkina, Niger, Mali and Chad, to monitor protection perception (general protection, education, child protection, GBV, HLP, legal protection, solutions, social cohesion). The objective of the project is to improve analysis and the protection narrative in the region, in order to improve coordination and the quality, efficiency and relevance of the response. The questionnaire includes questions that are similar/ based on the research's questionnaire. |
| Collaborator Contribution | N/A |
| Impact | N/A |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Community dialogues |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | DRC organized community dialogues based on themes from the findings of the research. They were done Q4 of 2022, intending to confirm, a year later, the trends highlighted in the research: further stress on community based protection mechanism, polarisation and increased tensions between communities. The communities reached were in the areas covered by the research but not necessary the same, as access has changed and people interviewed in '21 could not be found again. The community dialogues also had to be adapted to security constrains, for example avoiding long discussions, with large gathering of people, on topics related to security providers/ authors violations of rights that have become more sensitive. 4 community based dialogues have been done (2 in Niger, 2 in Burkina Faso). Due to changes in access, general restriction from the government and internal management changes, DRC has not been able to conduct the community dialogues in Mali in 2022. They took place in Q1 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023 |
| Description | Results presentation workshops |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | In order to present the results of this research-action project, four hybrid workshops were organized in Dakar, Niamey, Bamako, and Ouagadougou. An average of 25-30 people participated to each workshop between in person presences and online attendance. The audience was mainly formed by researchers, and members of the protection cluster - particularly in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. UN officials, and members from the diplomatic community and development cooperation agencies also attended. The discussion that followed every presentation was fruitful, with opinion exchanges on the results of the research and comparison of what has been observed on the field by the practitioners, and a number of suggestions on future research projects as well as areas that will require further investigation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |