Sharing lessons from the Bêkou Trust Fund (the humanitarian-development nexus and the triple nexus in CAR)

March 2020 - June 2020

Groupe URD has regularly contributed to learning processes in the Central African Republic. In connection with the workshop we organized in Bangui in 2016, the European Union has asked us to review the response funded by the Bêkou Trust Fund. This will involve analyzing literature on the situation and the aid sector in CAR, and talking to project teams in the field. A two-day, participatory workshop, involving the different relevant stakeholders, will be organized and facilitated as soon as the situation allows.

Funded by

European Commission

Since 2016, the situation in CAR has evolved very slowly. Despite sporadic explosions of violence, the country is trying to make progress. The Bêkou Trust Fund is one of the original mechanisms that the European Commission has put in place to increase resilience, re-establish basic services, and contribute to the creation of ‘peace dividends’ for the population.

The report to be prepared prior to the Conference will aim to:

Analyse the situation in CAR during the five years of the Bêkou Trust Fund, by bringing together the results of the workshop, ‘Resilience and Recovery, the road to development’ and other analyses/evaluations carried out by the government and its partners (RCPCA, PIN, etc.). The analysis should include the changes and developments during this period (politics, security, international aid, etc.); and should take into account the main drivers and obstacles in relation to rebuilding the country.

Evaluate the added value of the Bêkou Trust Fund as an operational tool over the period 2014-2019. This analysis should focus specifically on the results of the programmes funded by the Bêkou Trust Fund. It should also assess comparative advantages in terms of the management and pooling of resources, coherence, and political visibility. It should also analyse the other specific characteristics of the Bêkou Trust Fund, such as flexibility, links with the ‘security/development’ nexus, and the three operational levels (micro/meso/macro).

The lessons learned will be presented in terms of the following thematic areas: food and economic security, access to basic services, reinforcing governance, and contribution to the humanitarian-development nexus. The analysis will then aim to raise a certain number of questions which will be explored during the ‘Bêkou’ workshop, due to be held in June. Particular care will need to be taken regarding geographical issues as CAR is relatively diverse and conflict dynamics vary a great deal. It will therefore be important to underline what is relevant at the national level, and what needs to be analysed at the regional level.

The two-day workshop will allow the participants to think about all these issues, and it will also be an opportunity to conduct a collective and participatory exercise to find possible ways forward for the future – for the Bêkou Trust Fund and CAR – and, more broadly, for ‘Trust Fund’ mechanisms in general.

Carried out by

François Grünewald

Co-founder & Honorary President

fgrunewald@urd.org

@Fr_Grunewald