Evaluating Impacts of Peacebuilding Interventions

This document is one of a series of Practice Products developed under the Conflict, Crime, and Violence Results Initiative (CCVRI). The full set of products is intended to support DFID country offices and their partners to develop better measures of programme results in difficult conflict and fragile environments.

DfID’s 2009 Peacebuilding and Statebuilding Framework outlined an integrated approach with statebuilding and peacebuilding at the centre of its work in fragile and conflict-affected countries (FCAS). Yet there is relatively little evidence of the peacebuilding impacts of DfID’s engagement in these situations, and there are serious challenges to evaluating them. This guidance is intended to help staff a) understand the challenges and opportunities of evaluating impacts of interventions that aim to build and achieve peace by targeting, directly or indirectly, key drivers of conflict and peace (peacebuilding interventions), and b) work with evaluators to ensure evaluation designs are appropriate, robust and conflict-sensitive. This guidance builds on a study already done for DFID on Broadening the Range of Designs and Methods for Impact Evaluations (which addresses impact evaluation (IE) of development interventions generally) and introduces a peacebuilding lens.