CDD and local conflict : part of the problem or part of a solution?

Evaluating Responses to Con ict No.2/March 2010 Policy Brief Evaluating Responses to Con ict Conflict and Development Program Edition 2 March 2010 CDD and Local Conflict: 53333 Part of the Problem or Part of a Solution? Increasingly communitydriven development Instead, in areas where managing conflict This briefing is based on the following (CDD) projects have been viewed as having is a priority, parallel structures should be ar3cles: the poten3al to address local conflicts and developed to allow bo^omup input into to increase local conflict management conflict resolu3on processes. Patrick Barron, Rachael Diprose capacity. A twoprovince study in Indonesia and Michael Woolcock (2006). of the Kecamatan Development Project INTRODUCTION "Local Conflict and Community (KDP), the forerunner of PNPMRural, Development in Indonesia: Assessing conducted by the Conflict and Development Development and conflict go hand in hand. the Impact of the Kecamatan (C&D) program suggests a more measured By virtue of introducing new resources into Development Project". Indonesian conclusion. poor communi3es, development projects Social Development Paper No. 10. inevitably shape local conflict dynamics, CDD projects are o]en portrayed as a not only in areas which have experienced Jakarta: World Bank. solu3on to conflict. But the C&D study found high levels of violent conflict but elsewhere, Patrick Barron, Rachael Diprose and too. Compe33on over these resources li^le evidence that KDP reduces levels of Michael Woolcock (2007). "Local violent conflict. KDP is just one influence on can lead either directly to conflict, or can Conflict and Development Project in the level of conflict in an area, with other interact with exis3ng tensions, thereby Indonesia: A Part of the Problem or a local factors playing a large determining role. causing them to escalate. Projects such as Part of the Solu3on". Policy Research KDP forums and personnel have succeeded PNPMRural that aim to reconfigure both Working Paper No. 4212. Washington, in resolving projectrelated conflicts, but intergroup and statecommunity rela3ons DC: World Bank. have li^le direct impact on other types of are especially likely to influence local power local conflict. rela3ons and hence conflict dynamics. The challenge is to ensure that these conflicts Nevertheless, KDP promotes posi3ve social are construc3vely addressed so that they do change that can influence the pathways not become violent but, rather, become part Two series of Policy Briefs are that nonproject conflict follow. The project of a force for progressive social change. published by the Conflict and Development program within the improves intergroup rela3ons, helps democra3ze village life and there is mixed This nexus between development and World Bank Indonesia country conflict is of par3cular relevance to CDD evidence that it helps improve problem team. The first, "Understanding projects opera3ng in Indonesia. Since solving and conflict resolu3on. These effects Conflict Dynamics and Impacts," depend heavily on how well the project is 1998, Indonesia has undergone an uneven summarizes the results of research implemented and on the characteris3cs of democra3c transi3on that has at 3mes on conflict in Indonesia. These briefs the broader local ins3tu3onal context. been accompanied by violence. Over the draw out lessons for understanding past decade, largescale violent communal and responding to conflict in other There are three implica3ons for CDD projects conflicts have devastated several provinces, middleincome countries. The and conflict management. First, all projects secessionist conflicts have affected Aceh second, "Evalua3ng Responses to should have inbuilt mechanisms to deal with the conflicts they inevitably produce. and Papua, and localized conflict has Conflict," summarizes the results occurred across the country. Whether of evalua3ons and assessments Second, if a CDD project is to help mediate nonproject conflicts, its facilitators require and how CDD projects interact with social of conflict programs, and the tensions and local conflict, and how they specific training and increased discre3on methodological implica3ons of how affect the nature and extent of local conflict to decide when to intervene. Third, CDD we can best measure the impacts of projects are unlikely to be suited to mediate management, are pressing concerns. The peacebuilding programs. All Policy all forms of conflict. Project staff should not Conflict and Development (C&D) team took Briefs are available at a^empt to automa3cally transform project up these ques3ons in a twoprovince study www.conflictanddevelopment.org forums into conflict resolu3on forums, as of KDP, the forerunner of PNPMRural, from this may undermine their core func3on. 2002 to 2005. Policy Brief | Con ict and Development Program - World Bank O ce Indonesia 1 Evaluating Responses to Con ict No.2/March 2010 Incidence of conflict and varia3on over Two districts (kabupaten) were Explaining PNPMRural 3me and loca3on were measured via selected in each province: one with The Project Nasional Pemberdayaan a quan3ta3ve newspaper dataset. a higher local capacity to manage Masyarakat (PNPM)Rural is a na3onal conflict, the other with a lower Government of Indonesia project The study used two largeN datasets-- capacity. Capacity was measured that aims to introduce transparent the Government of Indonesia's using keyinformant interviews. Potensi Desa (PODES) survey and development planning through the the World Bank's Governance and Four subdistricts (kecamatan) were par3cipa3on of local ins3tu3ons and Decentraliza3on Survey (GDS)--to selected in each district: three that communi3es. Opera3ng since 1998, assess the representa3veness of had received KDP, and a fourth that today the project covers 45,000 villages findings and map broader structural had not. Subdistricts were `matched' in Indonesia with an annual budget factors that might impact on conflict to allow for the iden3fica3on of of approximately US$ 0.97 billion and KDP performance. project impacts. through na3onal budget alloca3ons, donor grants and loans from the World The study was conducted in East Within each subdistrict, villages were Bank. The project provides block Java and Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). selected based on the presence of grants of between US$ 95,000 and US$ These provinces were chosen because interes3ng, analy3cally useful conflict 320,000, with villages engaging in a although each has experienced cases. high levels of localized violent compe33ve par3cipatory process to conflict, they nevertheless differ in Five types of poten3al impact of KDP determine the alloca3on of the funds terms of popula3on density, ethnic on local conflict management capacity to local development priori3es. Prior homogeneity, dominant religious were iden3fied. These impacts, and to 2008, PNPMRural was known as the group and level of development. the study's overall framework for Kecamatan Development Project (KDP). Choosing diverse sites increased the analysis, are summarized in Figure 1. chance that similari3es observed would hold true across other FINDINGS The methodology and key findings of loca3ons. the C&D study are summarized below. Development projects frequently This note addresses the following key To facilitate iden3fica3on of project trigger conflict, or interact with ques3ons: effects, research sites in each province exis1ng disputes, which at 1mes leads