Burundi

The project strategy did not fully consider how the grantee’s intervention would be received by government stakeholders. The grantee had built a positive record with civil society and the UN mission based on earlier training and technical advice and on the grantee’s international credibility. However they did not have a similar record with the government officials that were to lead the National Consultation Steering Committee and its technical advisory team. The credibility that the grantee built with the police through the implementation of the census project did not translate into an open door at the National Consultation Steering Committee.

While the main project objective was to help build the capacity of transitional justice mechanisms, there was little analysis in the project document of the kind of capacity that needed building in Burundi. The three project outcomes offered only general guidance on this point, prioritizing inclusiveness, gender sensitivity and victims’ concerns, but not explicitly translating these priorities into specific competencies or skills that needed developing at other institutional levels.