SNV 2023-2026: Social Cohesion & Population Resilience Program (ProCOREP)

Inception Period Outputs The Inception Report clearly depicted the expected activities and outputs from the 6 month Inception Period, all of which were of a forward-looking nature meant to refine the programme ahead of its implementation. Staff were recruited, local offices established, local partners contracted, preparatory studies undertaken, internal strategies developed (on field security, on food systems approach, etc) and the programme document and budget re-worked (the latter partly due to last minute overall budget cut before decision on contribution). A lot of effort was during the period put into carefully introducing the programme to concerned non-state and state stakeholders, creating the foundation for conflict-sensitive interventions. Baseline Study, Updated Programme Document (Version 2024.02.19, containing i.a.; Updated Theory of Change (food systems analysis from a household perspective), Updated Logical Framework, and clearer (agile) intervention strategies under each objective), Note on Programme Governance: These forward-looking documents aimed to find ohter sources of funding were not reviewed in detail by Sida, given the decision to phase out the programme in 2024. The comprehensive documentation was however agreed to be useful for the consortium partners or other actors in future programming in the geographical area. The refined and very well argued programme proposal was one of the outputs from ProCOREP 2023/2024 that Sweden has contributed to. By the time of Sida's closing of the contribution however, to Sida's knowledge, no alternative source of financing had yet been identified. Results Time was overall too short to measure results and impacts of the various programme activities but the following activities were carried out and are likely to have contributed towards the programme objectives (from the Final Narrative Report, December 2024); Specific objective 1 "Governance": 600 women and youth (both sexes) were trained in leadership and political engagement. 257 grassroot organisations were trained in how to build arguments to influence policies of local authorities in favour of households, women and youth. 2 peacebuilding events were organised by local authorities. 120 elected officials, technical staff and local leaders were trained for 3 days in conflict sensitive leadership. (The revitalisation of the Regional Agriculture Committee in Kita enabled them to better manage subsidised fertilisers for the 2024 farming season in the region). 784 meetings providing accountability for local authority administrative budgets were supported (which were reported to have immediately raised public interest in mobilisation of taxes), and 720 "citizens' tax mobilisation days" organised by local authorities in connection with these meetings were supported. These activities combined allowed citizens to gain better insight into the operations of local authorities, provided motivation for local authority representatives to enhance performance, and hence improve conditions for resource mobilisation and more efficient use of these resources in support of local development. Specific objective 2 "Local natural resource and conflict management": 139 local entities formally charged with management of natural resources and conflict (CoFos and other types of local conflict management committees) were identified and diagnosed in terms of functionality and needs. This diagnostic is reported to have shown that especially local land/ tenure commissions (at village and local authority levels), so called CoFos, constitute an efficient tool to resolve land related conflict in rural areas, and hence to support social cohesion and peace. Their distribution and functionality are however uneven. In ProCOREP's western intervention area only 46% of the members of local authority level CoFos and 8% of members of village level CoFOs are able to read, write and do simple mathematics. 765 representatives of these local entities were trained in topics that included conflict prevention, establishment of local land commissions, complaints and redress mechanisms, tenure security and more. Some figures have been reported for ProCOREP's western intervention area on how many village level CoFos were revitalised and operational as a result of these activities (87%), and during 2023/2024 on average 3 conflicts per village were managed by these CoFos in the Diéma area. 1 474 023 persons were reached by information on the important role of CoFos and pluralistic dialogue. Specific objective 3 "Food and Markets": 670 members of farmers' organisations trained in running of their organisations, in order for them to successfully provide services to their member households (which typically include exploration of market opportunities, development and operation of infrastructure and more). The training covered strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation, participatory processes and accountability. Had ProCOREP continued to operate, these organisations would have been further supported towards hands-on achievements in line with their mandates. A diagnostic of the functioning and assets of farmers' organisations (focus on women's organisations) was undertaken, among other things showing existence of vegetable gardens but lack of fencing, water and inputs (seeds and fertiliser). 10 women's self-employment schemes (vegetable gardens) were established or rehabilitated with regard to infrastructure, mechanisation and skills for production and value-addition. The programme covered a total of 43 ha of vegetable gardens, directly benefitting more than 2 244 women farmers. Among value chains supported were peanut, shea and cereals. One such project successfully benefitted BENKADI Women's Association of Koliflo. For their 1 ha vegetable garden, they benefitted from both Infrastructure (fencing, 4 water retention ponds, water distribution pipes, 1 drilled water well, 8 solar panels, one submerged solar pump with cabling), and Training and Inputs including seeds. Only 1% (two individuals) of members had primary school education levels, which is reported to have constituted a challenge for the provision of technical and managerial advise to the organisation and its members. A detailed list of sites and investments per site is annexed to the ProCOREP final report. Environment and climate, overall; An Environment and Climate Impact Assessment was conducted of the Draft programme proposal in 2022, prior to the Agreement signing, and influenced the final programme design. It also served as a road map during programme implementation, to guide activities toward those that have a minimal negative impact on the environment, and that contribute towards climate adaptation. Time was overall too short to measure results and impacts of the various programme activities, including its environmental sustainability, but the following activities carried out are of specific relevance; - Training of women and men on environment friendly agro-ecological practices for vegetable gardening. - Use of seeds that are adapted to changing local climatic conditions. - Establishment of live fences around fields, which contribute to biodiversity. - Installation of solar technology for pumping of water, reducing work load for women while enhancing resilience to drought, without increasing emissions from fossile fuels. - Production and use of organic fertilisers. Closure The ProCOREP work plan for 2024 included various communication related activities to enhance understanding of the premature wind-up of the programme, and to reduce risk of non-sustainability of outputs and reputational damage to the programme partners and other stakeholders who invested in the programme. One such activity was a Closing Ceremony in the end of June 2024, which also served to timely collect progress report from various levels. It has been reported that this approach was successful under the circumstances, and limited damage from the premature programme wind-up.

Objectives The overall goal of the Social Cohesion and Population Resilience Programme (ProCOREP Mali) was to "contribute to restoring social cohesion and increase the climate resilience of vulnerable households, women and youth (young women and men) through secure livelihoods, sustainable and peaceful use of natural resources, and democratic local (citizen) participation". It had three specific objectives: 1. Decentralized local institutions (local governments and others) govern and manage public affairs, services and investments in an inclusive, responsible and accountable manner; 2. Households (including vulnerable groups, women) have improved inter- and intra-community relations, cohabitation and collaboration, and jointly and sustainably use and manage common land and water resources through local mechanisms and arrangements for land, water and conflict management; 3. Young households and women have increased and diversified their assets and stocks from agro-sylvo-pastoral (family) systems and have improved their food and nutritional security, through private-public-farmer services and practices. Budget and Time Frame The original budget was 79 950 615 SEK (which had been negotiated down from MUSD 150 over 5 years during proposal appraisal). The original activity period was 2023-07-01 to 2026-06-30 and the agreement period 2023-07-01 - 2026-12-31, with a start-up Inception Period during 2023-07-01 to 2023-12-31. Sweden decided in 2023 to phase out development cooperation with Mali in 2024. The total allocation for the contribution was then as per an amendment in early June 2024 reduced to SEK 27 000 000 (which was the amount already disbursed in the first start-up disbursement in July 2023). The revised activity period was 2023-07-01 to 2024-06-30 and the revised agreement period 2023-07-01 - 2025-03-31. Hence, the total programme period as well as programme budget were reduced down to one third. The implementation period (excl Inception period) was cut from 30 months to 6 months. A balance of 1 707 315 SEK that could not be used during the activity period was reimbursed to Sida. Revised Objectives and Targets As a result of the above reductions in time and budget, a phase-out plan had to be urgently prepared. The original Programme Document was not revised, but an elaborate Work Plan & Budget for 2024 (describing priorities, planning principles, updated risk matrix etc) as well as an overall revised Budget were developed and attached to the Agreement Amendment in June 2024. It was agreed between the Partners to prioritise correct handling of formal engagement at all levels in accordance with Malian legislation, and some priority actions for a responsible phase-out. Those included activities that had already been planned in detail by local communities, activities that had already been started, actitities that in a short period of time could be of immediate benefit to vulnerable groups, monitoring activities and activities that that could mitigate reputational damage at various levels. Sida also encouraged activities that could help market ProCOREP and mobilise alternative sources of financing. Partners The agreement was signed with Dutch international NGO SNV, leader of a project consortium that also composed of two other international NGOs: - Swedish international NGO DIAKONIA (with on-granting to local implementing partners Ya-G-Tu (association for promotion of women in Dogon) and CAD (umbrella organisation for local human rights groups). - HELVETAS Swiss International (with on-granting to local implementing partner Le/TONUS) ProCOREP also collaborated with Malian authorities at various levels, with permits, Memorandums of Understanding and hands-on collaboration in field activities.