Mine Action in Afghanistan: A Success Story in Danger An Evaluation of UNMAS in Afghanistan (2008-2014)
Samuel Hall is a leader in conducting quality field research and providing expert analysis and strategic consultancy to public and private sector organisations investing in present and post conflict regions. Covering Asia, Africa and the Middle East since 2009, Samuel Hall brings evidence-based and participatory research findings from the field to the tables of policy and decision makers. Our areas of expertise include monitoring and evaluation; strategy and impact assessments; as well as economic, migration, governance and rule of law, education and protection research. Our offices are located in Nairobi, Jordan and Kabul. Contact us at info@samuelhall.org Visit us at www.samuelhall.org Photo Credits: MACCA This publication was commissioned by UNMAS and was prepared and conducted solely by Samuel Hall. The views and analysis contained in the publication therefore do not necessarily represent UNMAS’ views. This report should be cited using the following referencing style: Samuel Hall 2014, “Mine Action in Afghanistan: a Success Story in Danger. An Evaluation of UNMAS in Afghanistan.” Samuel Hall encourages the dissemination of its work and will normally grant permission to reproduce portions of the report promptly. For permission to photocopy or reprint any part of this work, please send your request, along with complete information, to development@samuelhall.org SAMUEL HALL - UNMAS Evaluation – Final Report 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY UNMAS and the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan (MAPA) are in a paradoxical situation . Successful and increasingly efficient over the past six years, the MAPA is now in a delicate position to negotiate the years to come, as it struggles to secure the yearly funding it needs to allow Afghanistan to fulfil its treaty obligations. Few programmes can claim success in Afghanistan. The MAPA can. Few programmes can claim having an unquestionable humanitarian and development impact. The MAPA can. Few programmes can claim to be built on up-to-date data and robust analysis. The MAPA can. Few organisations can claim to have built technical and management capacities in a sustainable manner. UNMAS can. The capacities developed by the organisation over the years, especially over the past six years at the Mine Action Coordination Centre Afghanistan (MACCA), make it a rather unique organisation in the Afghan humanitarian landscape that has been characterised by a fledging government, corruption, and insecurity, which have made it a particularly challenging environment in which to operate. Assessing the MAPA against the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria highlights the strong performance of the programme under UNMAS’ guidance : RELEVANCE With an average of 39 victims of mines and ERW per month and still approximately 4,300 hazards to clear, more than 1,630 affected communities and an estimated 2.7% prevalence rate of mine survivors in the population, Afghanistan remains the country the most affected by mines and ERW in the world. Mine action in the country is a humanitarian necessity and utterly relevant. UNMAS and MACCA have kept the MAPA relevant over the past six years by adjusting it to the changing priorities on the ground. Through a tight programming and prioritisation system, the programme is able to absorb adequately the socio-economic evolutions and translate them rapidly into concrete measures, although groups at particularly high risks – young boys and nomadic populations for example – could be better integrated in the programme. The objective of increasing focus on victim assistance required by the last global strategy is slow to be translated into practical measures by the MAPA. This is partly due to the fact that no clear outcomes, priority sectors of intervention and milestones have been defined for the Afghan context, something that MACCA is currently addressing through an in-depth situational analysis. EFFICIENCY The MAPA resources are used more efficiently in 2014 than in 2008, with a reduction of coordination costs through a down-sizing of MACCA, an increased productivity linked to technological progress, the introduction of competitive bidding between IPs, and a more precise knowledge of the state of the problem on the ground. The impact of the series of reforms in the functioning of MACCA and of the MAPA as a whole is visible in the decrease of the price of demining per square metre and of the budget allocated to coordination. Constant training and capacity-building of staff also improved the efficiency of the MAPA, especially as MACCA reached a remarkable level of technical expertise and coordination capacity. In the absence of stable, multi-year funding, the efforts that MAPA stakeholders have to put on securing funding throughout the year have an opportunity cost for the programme and divert resources from implementation. SAMUEL HALL - UNMAS Evaluation – Final Report 3
EFFECTIVENESS Did UNMAS achieve overall programme objectives? Due to the constant re-assessment of baseline data on contamination throughout the period, the MAPA had to revise its objectives as the targets laid down in the Ottawa treaty or Afghan Compact were not realistic. The absence of clear yearly targets until 2014 make it difficult to assess the achievements of the programme against targets and in turn to communicate clearly on this with donors. Since the extension request was accepted, the MAPA has been able to reach the yearly targets it had planned for in the 10-year work plan. Three main sets of objectives have yet to be achieved: a) national ownership on mine action; b) gender mainstreaming; c) increased focus on and impact of victim assistance. Were there challenges in doing so? A difficult operational environment, insecurity and limited access to certain areas decrease the capacities of the programme to a) survey certain areas to confirm the state of contamination; b) send teams to conduct demining or Mine Risk Education (MRE) activities. In some regions, that may make the 2023 deadline difficult to meet. UNMAS and MACCA pushed for the development of community-based activities over the period, an effective way of addressing this problem. The lack of funding in recent years has also impacted MAPA’s ability to re ach its objectives, as some teams could not be mobilised or projects funded. Activities considered less central, such as the VA or gender mainstreaming, usually suffer first from decreased funding. IMPACT What is the impact of UNMAS’ activities at the ind ividual, community and national levels? UNMAS has a strong humanitarian impact. The direct impact of mine action, particularly demining and MRE, under UNMAS and MACCA’s leadership, over the past six years is tangible: o 451 square kilometres were either cleared or cancelled between 2008 and 2013 o 9,242 hazards were cleared between 2008 and 2013 o The number of civilian casualties dropped from 792 in 2008 to 484 in 2013 The impact of VA is still limited. UNMAS did have an impact on the response of governmental entities to the question of survivors, through a constant technical support to line ministries and an increased awareness of stakeholders. Yet, the impact on availability of services for victims remains limited at this stage. The indirect and development impacts of the programme are neither properly assessed and quantified nor integrated in a real donor and advocacy strategy. Yet, these impacts are certain and include: protection of IDPs, increased productive opportunities for communities, removal of blockages for infrastructures, decreased costs linked to victim assistance. The environmental impact of demining remains a question mark for MACCA, as no particular benchmarks or strategies are in place in the country to assess it. SUSTAINABILITY Is the MAPA sustainable in its current architecture in post-2014 Afghanistan? Two main challenges hinder the sustainability of the programme supported by UNMAS: SAMUEL HALL - UNMAS Evaluation – Final Report 4
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