GOOD 58064 PRACTICE NOTE Issue 4 October 2010 SENEGAL Making Community Driven Development Work in a Post Conflict Environment in Casamance I n 2003, after two decades of fighting for independence, the conflict in the Casamance, an area in Senegal south of the Gambia, finally came to an end. Tens of thousands of people who had been driven from their villages by the fighting between the army and separatist rebels, returned Gathering community members for a participatory home. needs assessment consultation, identifying their training needs to improve their livelihoods and In an effort to support the restoration of become peace builders normal social and economic activities and prepare for future development programs reduce poverty by 50% by the year 2015, in these newly-accessible areas, a $2 million eradicating exclusion, increasing income grant was given to the Republic of Senegal and equity in improved livelihoods, and under the Japan Social Development establishing gender equity, particular in Fund (JSDF). The purpose of the grant primary and secondary education. The was to extend basic social infrastructure project strengthened community capacity, and economic support services to poor social cohesion and trust by vesting communities in the control over resources and decisions to the conflict zone, an area community/village level, aligned with the that had been both Bank's Community-Driven Development geographically and (CDD) strategy. politically isolated from the rest of the The grant supported activities in two main country. areas: 1. Basicsocialdevelopmentandincome generationactivities,identified Challenge and andpreparedbythecommunities Approach themselves. Funds were channeled to village management committees, The project built later renamed Social Mobilization Cells, on the base of which were responsible for all aspects the successful of implementation, thus increasing the community-driven sense of ownership and transparency development at the local level. Eligible villages were approaches targeted based on poverty, location in pioneered by the Source: CIA World Factbook ex-conflict areas, and security of access. Social Development Sub-projects were identified in the Fund Agency (SDFA) context of participatory local investment elsewhere in Senegal, while testing and planning and were small-scale, low-cost, adapting these approaches for use in a and utilized appropriate technology. post-conflict setting. 2. Communityfacilitationandgrass rootsmanagementtrainingtobuild The project was framed within Senegal's thecapacityofvillagemanagement poverty reduction strategy, which aims to committeesintargetedcommunities. The Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF) was established in June 2000 by the Government of Japan and the World Bank as a united mechanism for providing direct assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable groups in eligible World Bank group member countries. NGOs with experience in post-conflict Drawing Area Village Maps: Schematic maps were situations facilitated the participatory sub- prepared by each community group, showing project identification and preparation and the key features such as topography, travel routes, subsequent implementation of activities. For abandoned or mined villages, vulnerable groups, income generating activities, beneficiaries project sites, remaining conflict zones, location of received support targeted at the development resources, security forces, refugee camps, rebel of business plans, access to funds, management areas, organizations that promoted peace, etc. The of revolving funds, and micro-business. maps were used to discuss proposed local alert systems, among other aspects. Fragile Communities Define Their Needs Moving Forward in Partnership Peace-Building Workshops: To sensitize villagers returning to community participation after a 20- Project Agreements: The designation of year conflict, three-day workshops focused on accountability to community beneficiaries for peace-building techniques ownership, financial and alternatives to administration and conflict. Specialized ProjectData execution of projects training modules adapted Implementing Agency: Social Development Fund Agency was carried out to Casamance included, Grant (TF05421) Amount: $2.1 million through written "Confidence Building" agreements, signed by and "Construction of a Implementation Period: 3/23/2005 to 9/9/2008 the local community Vision for the Future". representative and the Prompted by local Social Development Fund facilitators, everyone was invited to contribute, to Agency. This placed the community at the heart share and reflect on their experiences. Break-out of their development and decision making and groups facilitated interaction among participants, facilitated the decentralization of the funds. including role playing, the use of local proverbs, anecdotes, and singing. The use of a range of Strengthened Project Management Competencies tailored adult learning approaches was essential for for Villagers. To develop the capacity of the fragile post-conflict target audience. communities to assume responsibility within a relatively short time period and to plan, execute, Staircase to Peace: This exercise helped and sustain their subprojects and micro-businesses, communities to see peace on the horizon through a specialized training toolkit was delivered and a series of steps that emphasized their central adapted to Casamance. About 1000 people role in the peace process, and the importance of participated in this Grassroots Management Training vigilence to prevent a resurgence of violence. Step (GMT), of whom 712 were members of the Village- 1 describes the post-conflict situation where there is based Sub-project Management Committees. The little communication, and where community needs training package included: (i) Village Governance; are unknown. Step 2 - signs of communication (ii) Participatory Poverty Assessment; (iii) appear and a village project is born. Step 3 - Participatory Needs Assessment; (iv) Participatory peace-building efforts become a reality with Sub-Project Planning and Management; (v) implementation of the village project and real hope Participatory Micro-Business Planning and for the people. Step 4 - a dream comes true with Management (vi) Community-based Procurement community building in place and a shared promise Contracting and Financial Management; and (vii) not to return to times of conflict. Decentralized Funds Management for Grassroots Communities. Partnership at the Village Level: The project implementing agency developed a partnership with the community by placing facilitators side-by- side with the beneficiaries and their projects from concept through completion. VillageProjectCoordinators--"BarefootExperts" (Expert aux pieds nus): The project trained one or two Village Project Coordinators per community Project Community Workshop - designing their "Staircase to to continue to sensitize and mobilize community Peace" members to implement the micro-businesses and sub-projects. The Village Coordinators were Promoting Peace Through Community Theatre: An chosen by the local community members based effective communication method used to deliver on their credibility as representatives or leaders, project messages was community theatre using communication skills, availability, and occupation. local groups and sketches that promoted peace in Their specific responsibilities included promoting the local context and in local dialects. communications between the project and community beneficiaries, knowledge dissemination 2 http://www.worldbank.org/jsdf related to peace-building tools, support and monitoring of security alert systems to protect infrastructure, and advice on income-generating activities. Harmonization with National Priorities: Regional representatives of line sector ministries advising on community projects played a policy review role to ensure that the sub-projects were consistent with Community members working with facilitators, present their sector objectives and standards. Local ministerial ideas for sub-projects authorities were also involved in information campaigns, and acted as members of technical RESULTS review panels approving sub-projects and micro- businesses. This also prevented overlap with other The most important outcome was the contribution programs and ensured harmonization. of the Project to peace-building. The preparation and implementation of subprojects proved to be Information and Communications Strategies: The an effective mechanism to rebuild intra- and inter- emphasis on strengthening conditions for peace community cohesion. The project was implemented through information, communication and social in villages that had been greatly affected by the mobilization paid off. The demobilization sites, conflict, including villages abandoned due to the were turned into war. To encourage people to social mobilization come back to their villages, cells where young "The Participatory approach proved to be the project provided essential staff worked on early extremely useful at all levels. The communities infrastructure, such as schools warning, prevention were at the heart of the project, which explains and health huts, which had of conflict, peace why it was so successful" been deliberately destroyed management, and during the conflict. Assistance information sharing. -OusmaneMassekNdiaye,Ministerof was also given to the disabled, Staff provided advice DecentralizationandLocalCollectivities in particular the handicapped, and assistance to and victims of land mines. people returning to their places of origin In terms of human capital, a sustainable cadre on work opportunities and community reinsertion. of effective barefoot experts was developed at Settlers visited the cells to discuss and seek help the local community level. These experts were in resolving disputes over ownership of dwellings low-cost permanent residents who were trained or land. The cells also became a space where and developed skills in various subjects during communities could address diferent development project implementation, from peace-building and priorities, such as which road to build, or which technical subjects, to local governance and financial school or clinic to rehabilitate. Media messages management. These local residents have continued were also disseminated through radio, TV, or to play a key role in the development of their pamphlets informing settlers about the value of communities following project completion, ensuring peace and prospective long-term development sustainability and greater development impact. plans for the region. Peace and Social Mobilization. Activities were LESSONS LEARNED designed to promote community conditions amenable to the acceptance and reintegration · Community Trust and Empowerment: A of returning refugees and combatants. These participatory CDD approach maximized local conditions were independent of progress with the ownership of the project and facilitated rapid high level government peace talks. The community- implementation. Communities were able to based conflict prevention and early warning system decide on priorities, the selection of subprojects, developed with the assistance of the staff of the and to manage the associated funding. This social mobilization cells proved to be effective in devolution of authority from the central preventing the resurgence of conflict. government to the local community helped build trust, an important feature when working Improved Basic Infrastructure: A total of 91 sub- in a post-conflict environment with former projects were completed, of which 74 supported combatants who rebelled against government. investments in communities and 17 supported · Strengthening Community Capacity for Conflict individual revenue-generating projects. Activities Resolution: Linking peace-building training included school classrooms (38% of projects), to grassroots management training helped health (21%), adult occupational training (12%), stabilize villages and build confidence. Use of water supply (10%), micro-business (8%), reducing the Peace Staircase and Village Maps enabled women's workload (2%), and others (housing, the communities to become aware of the agriculture, fish farming, women and youth importance of their role in the peace-building cooperatives (7%)). process. 3 · Establishment of Multiple Thematic Local peace while addressing local conflicts, creating Committees: Promoting, facilitating and training innovative ways to communicate, influence stakeholders for the establishment of multiple behavior, and restore social capital at the local committees ­ technical, managerial, community level. After the project closed, the environmental, public health and HIV/AIDS, cell structures in rural communities continued peace-building, coordinating and mobilizing, to be used as a basis for community-decision sensitizing and motivating, and financial ­ for making about local development. various functional roles was an important · Negotiating Locations for Infrastructure element in the success of the program. Investments: Sub-project selection through · Investing in Targeting: Selection of districts and a process of negotiation that involved all villages was based on an initial participatory stakeholders in community meetings was poverty and needs assessments. This led to a essential to ensure not only that the work could project driven by the most vulnerable ­ youth, be carried out in peace, but that all concerned women, and victims of the conflict. Adult males had a stake in ensuring that investments played a less important role in implementing responded to the needs of communities project activities than did the vulnerable groups. rather than narrower interest groups. It also · Alleviating Demand for Urban Migration: By became evident that infrastructure investments supporting the development of rural districts contribute to the strengthening of conditions for and villages, displaced victims of conflict were peace by mobilizing the community to discuss less inclined to move to cities rather than decisions, the need to maintain peace and returning to their homes. This improved the trust between people and communities, and to standard of living for villagers and reduced the facilitate agreement on collective development concentration of poverty in urban areas. goals. Most important, while high level national · Delivering on Community Infrastructure is peace negotiations among groups may be at Essential to Achieve Peace: Implementation an impasse, communities at the grassroots showed that, in post-conflict situations, it level moved on to become conflict-free, with is essential to identify the inputs that lead communities themselves taking responsibility for to peace, such as freedom of movement, mediating and resolving local conflicts. liberation of prisoners, economic and social recovery benchmarks, and improved road access. Provision of basic infrastructure allows FOLLOW-ON PROJECTS refugees to return to shelter, schools to re-open, access to health services and the resumption In January 2005, the Bank was re-engaging of economic activities that restores people's Senegal after years of civil strife, through a Poverty livelihoods and well-being. Reduction Support Credit (PRSC1), and the · Comprehensive Approach to Conflict. The Casamance Emergency Reconstruction Project. The Casamance experience confirms that while a JSDF complemented the emergency IDA Credit, demobilization and reintegration program is and both the grant and credit were implemented in important, it needs to be complemented with parallel. The direct follow-on project to the JSDF broader development and social mobilization grant was the Participatory Local Development efforts that can sustain peace. Building trust, Program (P088656) supported by an additional rebuilding social capital, and finding areas of IDA Credit of US$50 million, implemented by the common ground between all stakeholders, Ministry of Decentralization and Local Collectivities. in parallel with formal negotiations, are the This project supports the Government of Senegal in key to achieving sustainable results in fragile setting up an effective framework for participatory conditions. local development, decentralization, resource · Social Mobilization Cells ­ Innovative Conflict mobilization and transfers responsibilities for the Resolution Operating Inside Communities: The delivery of services to local governments and early warning, conflict prevention and peace communities. management system that was put in place with the creation of the large number of social Suatainability Grant mobilization cells became an effective conflict resolution system at the local and community level. Former conflict drivers such as social In FY09, Japan approved a supplemental grant for and economic isolation, land issues, and ethnic $100,000 to the Government of Senegal, promoting and religious tensions did not go away and, in sustainability after completion and to help complete some instances, intensified. The cells played a some unfinished community sub-projects. key functional role in restoring and maintaining The Japan Social Development Fund -- JSDF Good Practice Notes seek to share achievements, knowledge and lessons learned from the implementation of JSDF projects over the past decade. The JSDF is a partnership between the Government of Japan and the World Bank to support innovative social programs that directly meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in developing countries. JSDF projects meet four basic requirements: Innovative, introducing new approaches to development; Responsive to the needy, by directly meeting the needs of vulnerable, marginalized, and disadvantaged groups; Rapid response activities that deliver short-term results and benefits to targeted beneficiaries; and Community capacity building activities that empower local governments, NGOs, and disenfranchised groups, while promoting stakeholders participation and ownership.