DRC NRC IRC 2022-2027: Resilience, Peace and Economic Recovery Programme

The programme was phased out in 2024 due to the Swedish government's decision to phase out Swedish development assistance to Mali, the decision was taken in December 2023. Sidas agreement to finance the project by way of grant was originally up to a maximum amount of SEK 100 000 000, this was reduce to SEK 50 000 000 due to the phase out. The activity period of the project was originally January 2023 to December 2026, and with the phase out the new end date of the activity period was set to December 2024. Even if the programme was phased out closely after the startup year, the programme has managed to implement many activities and achieved several results within the three main components and results areas contributing to the overall objective. The following results are documented in the final report (January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2024): By improving access by women and youth to employment and land, and by strengthening their participation in resource and conflict management mechanisms, the project has helped to strengthen their socioeconomic autonomy as well as the social cohesion within communities. Close collaboration was established with networks of community focal points, local authorities and decentralized technical services, which increased the efficiency and sustainability of the activities. Key achievements corresponding to the three main focus areas: Focus Area 1) Strengthen communities resilience to conflict - 130 focal points and community responders (45 women and 85 men) were trained to provide emergency mediation and information on housing, land and property rights. - Thirteen village land commissions were created and trained with the support of the authorities, to promote peaceful and inclusive natural resource management and to resolve land conflicts. The various mediation and conflict management mechanisms set up through the project have made it possible to resolve at least 37 out of the 74 conflicts identified. - The consortium carried out a radio campaign to raise awareness of peoples rights regarding civil documentation and housing, land and property and supported 835 women in acquiring legal title to the plots they cultivate. - 12 community action plans were designed and implemented in a participatory manner. These identified and prioritized measures to address the essential needs of communities and prevent conflicts. As a result of these plans: 18 water infrastructures were constructed and/or rehabilitated, electricity was installed in two community health centers, solar street lighting was installed in 14 villages, 70 youth developed income-generating activities, 191 vulnerable households acquired livestock, and 255 children received birth certificates. Focus Area 2: Strengthening economic resilience and food and nutrition security of communities - Following a participatory study of the labor market, 30 young people, including 12 women, joined a mentoring system and received financial and material support to start or strengthen their income-generating activities. - 70 young people, including 29 women, received training, money and equipment to develop their rural micro-enterprises. - 35 village Savings and Loan Associations were created or revitalized in order to strengthen the economic resilience of the target communities. - Goats were distributed to 191 households (including 129 led by women). - 1,200 households (including 738 led by women) received support with agricultural inputs and equipment that are climate and nutrition-sensitive. - 200 producers joined farmer field schools to help them increase their yields. - 6 market gardens and 4 mini-fruit gardens were developed and equipped with seeds and ploughing kits to promote diet diversity among the most vulnerable groups. - 153 counsellors were trained and equipped to conduct individual and group counselling sessions, raising awareness among 74,994 people, including 61,898 pregnant and/or breastfeeding women, on good infant and young child feeding practices. Focus Area 3) Building resilience to climate change through improved resource management To contribute to inclusive, sustainable and harmonious natural resource management, particularly in terms of access to water, the project teams ensured that climate change resilience was a key factor in all community action plans thus: - 18 water infrastructures were rehabilitated during the project, improving access to drinking water for at least 15,625 people, including 8,425 women. - 12 water point management committees were created, trained and equipped. - Project teams ensured that income-generating activities developed under community action plans were climate-sensitive to secure a sustainable income for beneficiaries while preserving community resources. - Radios broad casted awareness-raising messages on the effects of climate change reaching 56,324 people, including 29,018 women. - The consortium advocated for more equitable and inclusive access to land for youth and women to help them obtain legal documents for the land they cultivate.

Original objectives from before decision to phase out: The main objective of the 3RCs programme were to mitigate the effects of and prevent conflicts by strengthening the multidimensional resilience of communities facing conflict, poverty, environmental degradation & climate change. The programme had the following three main components and results areas contributing to the overall objective: Result 1: Strengthen communities resilience to conflict. Result 2: Strengthen economic resilience and improve food and nutrition security, including for internally displaced people, and Result 3: Strengthen resilience to climate change and improve management of natural resources. To achieve these results, DRC (Danish Refugee Council) and partners, intended to implement a triple-action that takes a HDP (Humanitarian Disarmament and Peacebuilding) nexus approach to build resilience of individuals and communities to multidimensional shocks in the short, medium and long-term through an integrated and multisectoral approach that 1) meets the basic needs of populations in order to reduce the impact of conflict, 2) prevents future conflicts linked to natural resource management and 3) promotes sustainable development respectful of the environment and resilient to climate change. The project aimed to strengthen community systems for conflict management/prevention, increase access to judicial services and civil documentation, increased access to land, increased access to natural resources and income-generating activities. The programme was built on DRCs (Danish Refugee Council), IRCs (International Rescue Committee), and NRCs (Norwegian Refugee Council) joint experiences with strengthening community resilience in Mali but also in the broader sub-region. More so, in combining the technical and operational expertise of the three organisations, the project aimed to support: the prevention of conflicts around agricultural resources (DRC technical lead), more inclusive processes for management of natural resources through the rule of law, increased equitable access to income-generating activities (NRC technical lead), particularly for women and young people in the target areas and increased access to water and improved nutrition (IRC technical lead). The programme had a strong integration and focus on environment and climate, protection, conflict sensitivity and gender, tailored to respond to the increased level of risks related to protection given the challeing context. The project intended to focus on 15 municipalities in the 2 regions of Nara and Segou regions. These locations were selected due to either opportunities to prevent an escalation of conflict and/or large influx of displaced people. In Segou for example, the number of IDPs fleeing from large scale hostilities continue to increase. In Nara, at the proximity to the border with Mauretania, there are increased cross-border flows, especially of pastoralists seeking pastures for their cattle. To strengthen communities resilience to various shocks and prevent a further escalation of the conflicts in these regions, IRC intended to support 5 municipalities in the Nara region (Fallou, Njamana, Guire, Nara and Guenebe) and in the region of Segou, DRC were planned to cover 5 municipalities (Niono, Siribala, Sebougou, Segou, Pelengana) and NRC 5 others (Markala, Cinzana, Sakoiba, Massala, Konodimini). In all the selected areas, the project aimed to implement a standardized package of activities composed of activities related to prevention and management of conflict, food and nutrition security, information, counselling and legal affairs, water and sanitation and economic recovery. The programmes aimed to target the poorest and most vulnerable rural population and were initially foreseen to reach 32, 580 people (20, 851 women, including 2632 girls and 11,729 men, including 1709 boys). Adjustments made due to the decision to phase out: Given that the programme is being phased out, the originally foreseen targets had to be redesigned. During the reprogramming of the activities in the 2024 work plan, the three partners focused on maintaining the most impactful activities, in locations where implementation was already underway, and activities in environments conducive to contributing to potential sustainability. It should also be mentioned that the reprogramming of the activities and the rewriting/updating of the contribution also take time, which leaves even less time for the actual activities to take place (Appraisal of Contribution Amendment Contribution ID: 15650).