Attachments
I. PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW
Kyrgyzstan’s eligibility to receive funding from the United Nations Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) expired at the end of 2019. The Kyrgyz government has expressed its strong interest in a new round of eligibility structured around new needs and priorities in the country. In line with this request, the Peacebuilding Fund (PBF) and the Resident Coordinator`s Office in Kyrgyzstan have planned a strategic review exercise to assess the peacebuilding related needs and challenges in Kyrgyzstan and identify whether the PBF remained well suited to support the response to these challenges.
This strategic review should be seen as an informal and limited exercise rather than a comprehensive portfolio evaluation. It builds on the comprehensive portfolio evaluation of the previous Peacebuilding Priority Plan (PPP) which was finalised in 2017, a number of project evaluations that have been conducted since then, and inputs from a strategic review workshop conducted in March 2020 in Bishkek. Its first objective is to understand whether the current portfolio – consisting of the projects under the PPP as well as the projects that received funding from the Gender and Youth Promotion Initiative since 2017 and the Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan cross-border project - responds to key peacebuilding issues, challenges and needs in Kyrgyzstan. The second objective is to analyse whether the Peacebuilding Fund - as a rapid, strategic and flexible fund - is the best suited donor to respond to the peacebuilding priorities in Kyrgyzstan and beyond, and whether the Fund has been able to catalyse further donor attention and support to these priorities. Third, the exercise aims to draw practical and concrete lessons learned and good practices from past activities supported by the Fund, and particularly to reflect on the successes and challenges of the strategy, design and implementation of the portfolio.
Finally, the review is expected to support a common understanding about key elements of effective and relevant peacebuilding programming in Kyrgyzstan identify strategic peacebuilding priority areas for potential future PBF investment in Kyrgyzstan.