Cross posted from the Learning Portal for DM&E for Peacebuilding

Dear Colleagues,

When we talk about the current state of DM&E in the peacebuilding field, we often lament the fact that we do not have an established evidence base of what works, and that our methodological approaches are still not that sophisticated compared with other disciplines such as education and health. However, if we review progress in our field over the past 10 years, we would see that peacebuilding evaluation has, indeed, come a long way.

Clearly there is still much to be done. But when one is grappling with the day to day challenges, the difficulties can seem insurmountable. A long-term view, however, suggests that progress has indeed been made and we are becoming more rigorous in our approaches and more effective in capturing results.

In the Reflecting on Peacebuilding Evaluation interview series, we have captured the views of thought leaders in design, monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding on how much our field has developed over the last 10 years, the challenges that remain and practical ways in which they might be overcome.

We are gathering reflections from some of the most prominent thought leaders in peacebuilding DM&E, including:

• Rob Ricigliano, Author, Making Peace Last: A Toolbox for Sustainable Peace
• Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Director, Center for Peacebuilding & Development at American University
• Tom Bamat, Senior Advisor for Justice & Peace at Catholic Relief Services
• Diana Chigas, Co-Director, Reflecting on Peace Practice Project at CDA, Inc.
• Sharron Morris, Director, Youth and Conflict Management Team at Mercy Corps
• John Paul Lederach, Professor of International Peacebuilding, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame
• And many more!

The interviews will be released on a month-by-month basis over the next year, beginning with the reflections of Rob Ricigliano, author of Making Peace Last: A Toolbox for Sustaina....

We hope these interviews will help stimulate creative discussion, and more importantly, action, on addressing the many challenges that remain in the design, monitoring and evaluation of peacebuilding. 

To view a brief preview of the series, click here. To view Rob Ricigliano's interview, click here. 

Regards,

Nick Oatley, Director, Institutional Learning, Search for Common Ground

Jonathan White, Content Manager, Institutional Learning, Search for Common Ground