Sharing lessons from the ‘Alliance pour la Résilience Communautaire’ project in Mali

Where humanitarian and development practices meet in protracted crises

Protracted crises bring new challenges for humanitarian and development organisations. Whereas it is more and more difficult to implement development projects in unstable and insecure contexts, relief projects meet certain needs, such as life-saving assistance, but are often not adapted to complex, long-term crises.

Currently, the sector is looking at how to combine short-term relief projects and long-term consruction projects more successfully. More and more organisations are trying to provide assistance in protracted crisis contexts through multi-year programmes that aim to reinforce the resilience of people, communities and territories. One of these initiatives is the ARC project (Alliance pour la Résilience Communautaire), which was implemented in Mali between 2016 and 2020. It is an example of a concrete, large-scale response to a protracted crisis.

Groupe URD analysed the good practices, challenges and recommendations of the ARC project. The report is aimed at any person or organisation concerned by the following question: What factors contribute to either the success or failure of combining short-term relief projects and long-term construction projects?

It is aimed primarily at people or organisations who implement or fund aid projects in complex and unpredictable situations. It has three sections:

1. UNDERSTANDING – What are the issues at stake? What is the ARC project? How was this lesson sharing exercise facilitated?
2. IDENTIFYING – What good practices exist? What are the success (or failure) factors for an aid intervention in a complex, protracted crisis situation?
3. IMPLEMENTING – What key actions need to be included to ensure that an aid intervention in a complex, protracted crisis situation is successful?