Effective Statebuilding? A Review of Evaluations of International Statebuilding Support in Fragile Contexts

Abstract

Statebuilding has become a major concern of OECD donor countries in recent years. However, our conceptual and empirical knowledge is still rather limited as to which approaches and instruments work and which do not. A growing stock of research and evaluation studies should provide urgently needed information, enabling donors to learn from past experiences in order to improve the effectiveness of their interventions in the future. The present evaluation study suggests that the current body of research and evaluation documents does not yet fulfil this task. The study surveys existing knowledge on the experiences with assistance to statebuilding in fragile contexts. For the period under review (2005-2011), the study identifies some 100 documents that assess international activities which are explicitly and primarily aimed at addressing issues of statehood/fragility, peace and security or governance. Some 40 studies were selected for in-depth analysis, either major (cross-country or multi-donor) evaluations or outstanding case studies. In order to allow for the triangulation of findings, the universe of available case studies was narrowed down to eight countries: Afghanistan, DR Congo, Haiti, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan (including South Sudan) and Sri Lanka.