The project being evaluated followed an earlier project, entitled “Equipping National and Local Actors in Internal Conflict Management Processes with Skills for Dialogue and Constructive Negotiation”, led by UNDP in partnership with DPA and the EU and implemented in 2012-2013. Both phases are part of the Joint UNDP-DPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention.
The main objective was to provide the EU Foreign Policy Instruments with an independent assessment of the project’s performance regarding its overall objective of contributing to peace and stability by building and consolidating national capacities and initiatives for conflict prevention in conflict affected, fragile countries or countries undergoing transition.
The evaluation targeted the following specific objectives of the project which are formulated at three levels:

• At country level, strengthening the ability of national stakeholders (including civil society) to implement and support internal dialogue and negotiation initiatives and where appropriate, supporting the on-going consolidation of national and local institutions facilitating dialogue and negotiation (in 4 countries involved in the earlier project (2012-13): Bolivia, Ghana, Togo and Yemen; and 5 other countries: Bosnia-Hercegovina, Guatemala, Honduras, Malawi and Timor-Leste)
• At regional level, West Africa and Western Balkans, developing coordinated and complementary approaches linking country-level activities to regional initiatives, including on cross-cutting issues of gender, human rights and environmental and climate change (this includes an element of support to the coordination, knowledge-sharing and practical cooperation at country and regional level between the EU and the UN)
• At global level, strengthening knowledge management capacities and improving ability to integrate lessons learned and good practices into UN/EU support to national partners on conflict prevention