Rwanda Evaluations
 | “Ubufatanye Mu Miyoborere”: Advancing CSO-led Participatory Governance in Rwanda & Promoting Fiscal Transparency In RwandaYouth make up 40% of the Rwandan population, yet they continue to face major barriers to participation in decision-making, fiscal transparency, and budget processes. To address this barrier, Search developed and implemented two projects over the last three years (2018 – 2020). The first EU-sponsored project titled “Ubufatanye mu Miyoborere: Advancing CSO-led Participatory Governance in Rwanda” aimed to enhance the capacity and confidence of youth- and women-led CSOs to promote more inclusive, responsive, and transparent local-level governance. The second project “Promoting Fiscal Transparency in Rwanda” was funded by the US embassy and aimed to increase the engagement of CSOs and Rwandan citizens in fiscal and budget processes at the local level. Both projects adopted a CSO-led and participatory approach during the implementation of Interventions, fostering trust, collaborative relationships, and active participation among project participants and local government authorities. The key project activities were the training of youth-led CSOs, youth researchers, and selected community radio stations as well as joint community activities, creating space for collaboration and a healthy relationship between local government authorities, youth-led CSOs, citizens, and community radio stations. As a result of these two projects, both educated and uneducated youth have been equipped with significant skills and confidence to undertake research and advocacy on governance issues and budget processes in their communities while local government authorities have recognised the value of their active involvement. |
| Final Evaluation – Improving the Cross Border Trade Environment – September 2017Between May 2016 and September 2017, Search for Common Ground (Search), in partnership with Trade Mark East Africa (TMEA) implemented a regional project targeting small cross-border traders operating on the Goma/Gisenyi and Bukavu/Rusizi borders. The overall aim of this project was to support peace through economic development and improved citizen-government relations in the area of cross-border trade (CBT), contributing to enhanced confidence in traded goods and services between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Relations between petty-traders and border officials dramatically improved in Rwanda, and improved to a lesser extent in the DRC. 74% of the surveyed petty traders reported a straightforward improvement in their relations with the Rwandan border officials and a greater ease to cross the border with their goods on the Rwandan side; on the Congolese side only 43% of respondents claimed that the situation improved, while 44% said that there was no change. For both sides the project has resulted in a behavioral change at the border points, where customs officers and border officials are treating petty traders with more respect and are more willing to respond to their questions regarding taxes and regulations. The awareness-raising component of the project obtained very positive results. The local radios reported having reached the project target audience (petty traders, border officials…) and reported knowledge on CBT has improved among that group. The microcredit program set up by Search in collaboration with three local civil society partners has been particularly successful in Bukavu, where the beneficiaries were not only able to pay back their loans before the required deadline, but were also able to generate revenue from it. To maintain the positive effects of this project, one of the main recommendations is to encourage and support the establishment of traders associations and cooperatives with few barriers to entry. |
 | Terre D’EntenteFrom July 2012 to June 2017, Search for Common Ground implemented the project “Terre d’Entente”, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The overall objective of this project was to “support the legitimate governments of the Great Lakes region so that they have the capacity to fulfil essential state functions”; and three specific objectives to 1) Support the creation of mechanisms of citizen participation in decision-making on sensitive issues; 2) Strengthen the constructive engagement between civil society actors and local authorities on sensitive issues; 3) Strengthen the capacity of peace building actors at the national level. The project was implemented in collaboration with governmental partners, civil society partners or traditional leaders’ associations, and community radio stations in DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda. The evaluation found that though the existence of land conflicts remained a reality, all three countries saw an increase in the level of knowledge and access to information on land tenure issues. The project achieved its objective of creating and strengthening mechanisms of citizen participation in decision-making on sensitive issues. Despite the project’s success in raising awareness on land issues and strengthening participation mechanisms, the perception of government policy transparency and effectiveness has only improved in Burundi, and deteriorated in Rwanda and the DRC. The project has strengthened the constructive engagement between the civil society actors and local authorities on sensitive issues, however, the results are more visible at the local level than at the national or regional levels. Impact was achieved, and amplified, by engagement with land ministries and support to innovative and rapid impact micro-projects for peaceful resolution of community conflicts. |
| Land Programming Evaluation – March 2015 – Umurage w’Ejo, the Legacy for Tomorrow Project: Land and Livelihood in Rwanda – and – Strengthening Citizen Participation Around Sensitive Issues in Order to Prevent Conflict in the Great Lakes Region*Umurage w’Ejo, the Legacy for Tomorrow project: Land and Livelihood in Rwanda* is a 39 month long project that took place between January 2012 and March 2015, financed by the European Union (EU). The second, *Strengthening Citizen Participation Around Sensitive Issues in Order to Prevent Conflict in the Great Lakes Region*, is a 2-year project that took place between July 2012 and July 2016, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The two projects are part of the Search For Common Ground’s land programming approach in Rwanda. Both of these projects are aimed at increasing citizens’ knowledge on land related issues; creating opportunities for dialogue between citizens, non-state actors and local authorities; and strengthening the capacities of local actors. The evaluation demonstrates that the project’s general objectives have been achieved and that SFCG has effectively contributed to strengthening decentralized implementation of land policy. The two projects created opportunities for dialogue between authorities, the media and local citizens through its radio programming, theater performances and listeners clubs. The *Umurage w’Ejo *project specifically managed to build the capacity of *Abunzi,* thus helping them to better perform their task of land conflict mediation. The report states, nevertheless, that SFCG should continue to work on sustainability: better efforts in communication could lead to a greater and longer lasting impact of SFCG activities. |
| Final Draft Report for Progress Evaluation of SFCG’s Entrepreneurship- Focused Initiatives Programme: “Let’s do it project and Legacy for tomorrow project”This external evaluation report on entrepreneurship-focused programming in Rwanda captures the results of activities conducted as part of two projects: Let’s Do It! and Legacy for Tomorrow. This report focuses on the approaches, benefits and affects of the programming related to entrepreneurship for each of the projects. For the regional Let’s Do It! project (which also extended to DRC), the evaluation focuses on Générations Grands Lacs radio programming, the Zamuka reality television show, and an internet platform used for regional exchanges. In addition, Legacy for Tomorrow‘s entrepreneurship-focused Kura Wikorera radio program in Rwanda was also evaluated. The report found radio programming to continue to be the most popular format overall, while internet and television reached more targeted subsets of the population (mainly students with a secondary school or higher education). Results of these programs are documented, and recommendations for future programming are outlined. |
| Maximizing The Impact Of Reconciliation In RwandaThis project evaluation measured intended and unintended results related to programming in Rwanda, and reported on best practices and lessons learned to make recommendations for future programming. The evaluation used a mixed methods approach, including a listenership survey, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Members of the general population were targeted, as well as National Unity Reconciliation Commission (NURC) district forum members and other partners involved in unity and reconciliation. All five provinces of Rwanda were represented in the study. The project was found to have supported the NURC in their coordination with the NGO forum and NURC district forums. While there were delays in the establishment of these groups and functionality cannot be assessed, NURC district forum and national representatives both claim to have learned new skills through SFCG trainings in conflict management resolution and monitoring and evaluation, which they have since implemented. SFCG also supported several bridge-building activities, such as listener clubs and participatory theatre projects proposed by community based organizations and civil society organizations. These activities were found to be effective in creating platforms for individuals and groups to utilize in exchanging experiences and ideas related to the genocide in Rwanda. Evaluators recommended in future projects to maintain reconciliation efforts as a priority and continue to support dialogue between national government and district-levels, as well as CSOs. In this effort, addressing the generational gap between pre and the growing post-genocide generations will be important, as it confounds the issue of reconciliation for Rwandans. In addition, evaluators found that SFCG will need to be dynamic and continue to evolve activities as new partnerships are growing in the country. They recommended to consider partnering with government on some activities that are traditionally meant as local activities, such as participatory theater, in order to continue this dialogue at the national level and encourage deeper partnerships between government and CSOs.
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| Bana Dukine: Using Technology to Teach Conflict Resolution Skills – Final EvaluationThis external evaluation sought to assess the extent to which the Bana Dukine computer game was appropriate for primary school students, and to understand if and what the students learned by playing the game. Developed in partnership with Serious Games Interactive, Search for Common Ground and the Rwandan Ministry of Education with financial support from the United States Institute for Peace, the game sought to increase understanding among Rwandan schoolchildren of the causes of conflicts, constructive strategies to resolve them and their application in the students’ daily lives; and, to develop new, interactive and replicable conflict resolution tools that leverages the Government of Rwanda’s national rollout of ICTs that can be adopted in comparable contexts. Overall, the evaluation finds that instead of introducing new knowledge and skills, the game provides a safe space for students to implement pre-existing knowledge and skills relating to conflict resolution.
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