A clearer understanding of the meaning of the OECD/DAC evaluation criteria is not however of direct help to peace actors who intervene in volatile and uncertain environments and try to figure out how they can be most relevant, effective, and efficient, nor for donors who try to assess the potential of different proposed interventions to be so. A second possible source of insight is what we have learned from the collective experiences in mediation and peacebuilding over the past 20 years.
This second briefing paper summarises key such insights. These are not ‘best practices’ that are valid across all contexts and at any moment. There is no blueprint design or technical-methodological manual that, if followed, is guaranteed to resolve the conflict. They constitute ‘good practices’ that seem to increase the likelihood that individual and collective efforts will, eventually (but no one can confidently predict when), have positive influences on a vicious circle of violence and distrust. When and how precisely to apply them will remain a matter of situational judgment by the peace actor. Access the paper here.