Evaluating Responses to Con ict No.2/March 2010 Policy Brief Evaluating Responses to Con ict Conflict and Development Program Edition 2 March 2010 CDD and Local Conflict: 53333 Part of the Problem or Part of a Solution? Increasingly communitydriven development Instead, in areas where managing conflict This briefing is based on the following (CDD) projects have been viewed as having is a priority, parallel structures should be ar3cles: the poten3al to address local conflicts and developed to allow bo^omup input into to increase local conflict management conflict resolu3on processes. Patrick Barron, Rachael Diprose capacity. A twoprovince study in Indonesia and Michael Woolcock (2006). of the Kecamatan Development Project INTRODUCTION "Local Conflict and Community (KDP), the forerunner of PNPMRural, Development in Indonesia: Assessing conducted by the Conflict and Development Development and conflict go hand in hand. the Impact of the Kecamatan (C&D) program suggests a more measured By virtue of introducing new resources into Development Project". Indonesian conclusion. poor communi3es, development projects Social Development Paper No. 10. inevitably shape local conflict dynamics, CDD projects are o]en portrayed as a not only in areas which have experienced Jakarta: World Bank. solu3on to conflict. But the C&D study found high levels of violent conflict but elsewhere, Patrick Barron, Rachael Diprose and too. Compe33on over these resources li^le evidence that KDP reduces levels of Michael Woolcock (2007). "Local violent conflict. KDP is just one influence on can lead either directly to conflict, or can Conflict and Development Project in the level of conflict in an area, with other interact with exis3ng tensions, thereby Indonesia: A Part of the Problem or a local factors playing a large determining role. causing them to escalate. Projects such as Part of the Solu3on". Policy Research KDP forums and personnel have succeeded PNPMRural that aim to reconfigure both Working Paper No. 4212. Washington, in resolving projectrelated conflicts, but intergroup and statecommunity rela3ons DC: World Bank. have li^le direct impact on other types of are especially likely to influence local power local conflict. rela3ons and hence conflict dynamics. The challenge is to ensure that these conflicts Nevertheless, KDP promotes posi3ve social are construc3vely addressed so that they do change that can influence the pathways not become violent but, rather, become part Two series of Policy Briefs are that nonproject conflict follow. The project of a force for progressive social change. published by the Conflict and Development program within the improves intergroup rela3ons, helps democra3ze village life and there is mixed This nexus between development and World Bank Indonesia country conflict is of par3cular relevance to CDD evidence that it helps improve problem team. The first, "Understanding projects opera3ng in Indonesia. Since solving and conflict resolu3on. These effects Conflict Dynamics and Impacts," depend heavily on how well the project is 1998, Indonesia has undergone an uneven summarizes the results of research implemented and on the characteris3cs of democra3c transi3on that has at 3mes on conflict in Indonesia. These briefs the broader local ins3tu3onal context. been accompanied by violence. Over the draw out lessons for understanding past decade, largescale violent communal and responding to conflict in other There are three implica3ons for CDD projects conflicts have devastated several provinces, middleincome countries. The and conflict management. First, all projects secessionist conflicts have affected Aceh second, "Evalua3ng Responses to should have inbuilt mechanisms to deal with the conflicts they inevitably produce. and Papua, and localized conflict has Conflict," summarizes the results occurred across the country. Whether of evalua3ons and assessments Second, if a CDD project is to help mediate nonproject conflicts, its facilitators require and how CDD projects interact with social of conflict programs, and the tensions and local conflict, and how they specific training and increased discre3on methodological implica3ons of how affect the nature and extent of local conflict to decide when to intervene. Third, CDD we can best measure the impacts of projects are unlikely to be suited to mediate management, are pressing concerns. The peacebuilding programs. All Policy all forms of conflict. Project staff should not Conflict and Development (C&D) team took Briefs are available at a^empt to automa3cally transform project up these ques3ons in a twoprovince study www.conflictanddevelopment.org forums into conflict resolu3on forums, as of KDP, the forerunner of PNPMRural, from this may undermine their core func3on. 2002 to 2005. Policy Brief | Con ict and Development Program - World Bank O ce Indonesia 1 Evaluating Responses to Con ict No.2/March 2010 Incidence of conflict and varia3on over Two districts (kabupaten) were Explaining PNPMRural 3me and loca3on were measured via selected in each province: one with The Project Nasional Pemberdayaan a quan3ta3ve newspaper dataset. a higher local capacity to manage Masyarakat (PNPM)Rural is a na3onal conflict, the other with a lower Government of Indonesia project The study used two largeN datasets-- capacity. Capacity was measured that aims to introduce transparent the Government of Indonesia's using keyinformant interviews. Potensi Desa (PODES) survey and development planning through the the World Bank's Governance and Four subdistricts (kecamatan) were par3cipa3on of local ins3tu3ons and Decentraliza3on Survey (GDS)--to selected in each district: three that communi3es. Opera3ng since 1998, assess the representa3veness of had received KDP, and a fourth that today the project covers 45,000 villages findings and map broader structural had not. Subdistricts were `matched' in Indonesia with an annual budget factors that might impact on conflict to allow for the iden3fica3on of of approximately US$ 0.97 billion and KDP performance. project impacts. through na3onal budget alloca3ons, donor grants and loans from the World The study was conducted in East Within each subdistrict, villages were Bank. The project provides block Java and Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). selected based on the presence of grants of between US$ 95,000 and US$ These provinces were chosen because interes3ng, analy3cally useful conflict 320,000, with villages engaging in a although each has experienced cases. high levels of localized violent compe33ve par3cipatory process to conflict, they nevertheless differ in Five types of poten3al impact of KDP determine the alloca3on of the funds terms of popula3on density, ethnic on local conflict management capacity to local development priori3es. Prior homogeneity, dominant religious were iden3fied. These impacts, and to 2008, PNPMRural was known as the group and level of development. the study's overall framework for Kecamatan Development Project (KDP). Choosing diverse sites increased the analysis, are summarized in Figure 1. chance that similari3es observed would hold true across other FINDINGS The methodology and key findings of loca3ons. the C&D study are summarized below. Development projects frequently This note addresses the following key To facilitate iden3fica3on of project trigger conflict, or interact with ques3ons: effects, research sites in each province exis1ng disputes, which at 1mes leads · What is the conflict management were chosen by the following to conflict escala1on. But in contrast poten3al of CDD projects? Under process: to other development projects, what condi3ons can this poten3al be realized? · How can the design of CDD Figure 1: Framework for Analysis projects be modified to enhance their capacity to serve as part of an effec3ve conflict management system? METHODOLOGY Assessing the impact of social de velopment projects is difficult, because projects may adapt to local circumstances in idiosyncra3c ways to generate outcomes (such as enhanced `par3cipa3on') that defy simple measurement. Consequently, the C&D study employed a mix of qualita3ve and quan3ta3ve data and methods to inves3gate whether par3cipa3on in KDP was helping villagers to find more construc3ve solu3ons to various types of locallevel conflicts. Qualita3ve fieldwork involved pro cesstracing of 69 conflict cases (some violent, some not) and studying the ma3c issues (such as local ins3tu3on al structures and KDP func3oning) in 40 villages. 2 Policy Brief | Con ict and Development Program - World Bank O ce Indonesia Evaluating Responses to Con ict No.2/March 2010 Map 1: Research Disctrict in East Java Map 2: Research Disctrict in NTT KDPrelated conflicts almost never As it stands, KDP is thus not an Whereas the direct impacts of KDP become violent. There was only one effec1ve mechanism for working on conflict management are small, minor dispute rela3ng to KDP between directly on nonproject conflict. the project has notable and posi1ve 2001 and 2003 in the research areas; There are four reasons. First, KDP indirect impacts on the local ins1tu over the same 3me period, 36 violent is rarely perceived locally as an 1onal environment in the areas in disputes took place rela3ng to other appropriate mechanism to address which it operates. Across a range of government development projects most forms of nonproject conflict. different iden3ty cleavages, the study and provision of government services. Second, in some cases facilitators finds KDP helped contribute to im Two factors explain this. First, because are not seen as having the personal provements in intergroup rela3ons. KDP projects emerge from a process legi3macy to handle disputes. Third, Improvements in the quality of group whereby communi3es define their facilitators also may not be called on rela3ons grew larger over 3me, with needs, they are less likely to clash with to mediate disputes because of gaps villages that have had KDP for four local priori3es and hence conflicts in their capacity. District facilitators years generally showing greater im are less likely to emerge. Second, the may have the technical ability to provements than those that have had resolu3on success rate of KDPrelated mediate conflicts, but do not always the project for shorter periods. The problems is very high, because the have sufficient local knowledge. evidence also shows that KDP is help project has a ba^ery of inbuilt Conversely, village facilitators have ing to democra3ze village life. The mechanisms (people and procedures) local knowledge but no technical project has encouraged greater par that allow tensions to be addressed as training. Finally, facilitators themselves 3cipa3on of marginalized groups in and when they arise. may be unwilling to address conflicts KDP and even other village mee3ngs, and problems brought to them that as well as more democra3c decision There is liFle evidence that KDP per are not related to the project. making in village mee3ngs. se has a posi1ve impact on levels of violent conflict at an aggregate Figure 2: Forms of Violent Conflict in Research Area level or a direct posi1ve impact on nonproject related violence at the local level. In fact, violent conflicts are more likely in areas that have KDP in NTT, although not in East Java, and conflicts resul3ng in a death are more likely in KDP areas in both provinces. KDP is just one influence on the level of conflict in an area, with other local factors playing a large determining role. In both East Java and NTT, the direct impacts of KDP on conflict management are minimal in the first three years of the project. Project forums and facilitators are rarely used for addressing conflicts unrelated to the project; in none of the research loca3ons had KDP been ins3tu3onalized as a regular conflict resolu3on device, except in cases as a place for dealing with aidrelated conflict. Policy Brief | Con ict and Development Program - World Bank O ce Indonesia 3 Evaluating Responses to Con ict No.2/March 2010 There is mixed evidence that KDP be part of a solu3on when they work aspire to serve as a wholesale subs3 has helped improve problem solving to complement ongoing governance tute to a comprehensive conflict ma and conflict resolu1on. Quan3ta3ve reforms. As such, projects such as KDP nagement strategy. Using CDD project evidence did not reveal a project should be regarded as components features to address nonproject re effect, showing similar improvement of, not subs3tutes for, coherent lated grievances risks the legi3macy both in villages that had received KDP development strategies for enhancing and neutral status of its staff. Rather and those that had not. Qualita3ve local conflict media3on capaci3es than a^emp3ng to replace local in fieldwork, however, clearly showed and improving the transparency, s3tu3ons where they exist, it is more that KDP creates a posi3ve precedent accountability, and inclusiveness of useful to enhance the conflict resolu that s3mulates demand for changes decisionmaking mechanisms. 3on skills of the local actors who are in the way local decisionmaking and more likely to mediate such conflicts conflict resolu3on operate. Three key measures can help CDD anyway. Even where conflict resolu projects become part of the solu3on 3on ins3tu3ons are absent, it may The indirect effects of KDP on conflict in local conflict management. First, some3mes be more effec3ve to de depend heavily on the extent to projects should develop a transpar velop parallel (but linked) structures which the project func1ons well and ent, accessible and procedurally clear outside of CDD projects to facilitate on the local ins1tu1onal context, inbuilt conflict resolu3on mecha bo^omup input into conflict resolu with the former more important. In nism, taking into account the exist 3on processes. both areas with low and high conflict ing ins3tu3onal context and conflict management capacity, gevng KDP landscape of a region. For na3onal working well greatly increases the projects (like PNPMRural), it is not RECOMMENDATIONS posi3ve impacts the project can feasible to do a detailed mapping of · Make transparent complaint have. The study finds that the project the local context in every area. Com handling mechanisms an integral contributes most effec3vely to prehensive mapping in selected areas part of CDD projects. longerterm posi3ve norma3ve and should be accompanied by broader behavioral changes when it interacts social research and analysis that helps · Create flexibility in the conflict with exis3ng processes of social and map the broad ins3tu3onal environ media3on structures of CDD pro poli3cal transforma3on, ac3ng as ment (and how this plays out locally), jects to allow, where appropriate, a catalyst to legi3mize processes the basic local poli3cal economy, and for coopera3on with local elites. already underway. But even in a some of the risks. · Improve socializa3on of CDD low capacity environment, a well projects to promote local under implemented project can produce Second, if a CDD project is to help standing of project decision posi3ve outcomes. mediate nonproject conflicts, then making processes that can reduce its facilitators will require both conflict and contribute to posi3ve KDP can complement local conflict specialized training to develop their norma3ve and behavioral change media1on mechanisms, but is capacity as well as the discre3on · Invest in analy3cal work at unlikely to replace them where to decide when to get involved. In mul3ple levels to understand they already exist. In high conflict par3cular, CDD projects need to be^er the local context, including resolu3on capacity environments, KDP an3cipate the deeper involvement local conflict dynamics and risks. can serve as a valuable complement, of their staff in the resolu3on of non · In postconflict regions, further strengthening already wellfunc3oning project related conflicts in postconflict explore the role CDD projects villagelevel ins3tu3ons. In low areas where exis3ng capacity for can play in resolving certain non capacity environments, the project conflict management is low and local project conflicts. can provide a posi3ve alterna3ve to structures for conflict management (or subs3tute for) absent, captured, have broken down. Based on this · Train facilitators to effec3vely or dysfunc3onal forums. conclusion, in 2009 the C&D team intervene in other development trained approximately 400 PNPM related conflicts, and where conflict CONCLUSION staff in Aceh province, Indonesia to management is a priority, provide improve their conflict resolu3on skills. specific training and support to CDD projects, PNPMRural included, An addi3onal 400 community leaders mediate other conflicts. are not a silver bullet solu3on to local were also trained. · Enhance the conflict resolu3on conflict. At worst, they can inflame capacity of local actors who are exis3ng tensions and thereby become Finally, the findings of the study make typically called upon to mediate part of `the problem'; at best, they can it clear that CDD projects should not local disputes. For further informa3on, please contact: Conflict and Development Team Jl. Peurada Utama No. 11A, PSF The World Bank Satellite Office Gampong Peurada, Banda Aceh info@conflictanddevelopment.org Jl. Diponegoro No. 72, Menteng Phone: +62651 755 1176 Jakarta 10310 INDONESIA Fax: +62651 755 1178 Phone: +6221314 8175 Fax: +62213190 3090 Please visit our website: email: info@conflictanddevelopment.org h^p://www.conflictanddevelopment.org 4 Policy Brief | Con ict and Development Program - World Bank O ce Indonesia