Peacebuilding, Governance and Gender Assessments: A Basic Guide for Busy Practitioners

Peacebuilding, governance and gender (PBGG) integration constitute a core competency for CRS and our partners around the world. The agency has developed basic, “good enough” guidelines for assessing conflict dynamics, governance institutions, and gender relations that will provide a deepened understanding with which to ground holistic, integrated projects.

These guidelines are designed to provide agency staff and partners preparing proposals in various sectors, (e.g., agriculture, health, emergency response) with a very short list of questions to consider—questions that may help them to avoid doing harm and contribute to transforming systems for social justice and ultimately, integral human development. Glossaries of key terms are included.

The depth with which each PBGG component is treated in practice will vary with the scope and complexity of specific projects and the level and nature of change they hope to achieve. The best approach to these assessments in a given country program will depend on the type and quality of already existing data and analysis, and the capacity of local staff. The questions listed with each tool are general in nature and should be contextualized to maximize relevance and effectiveness.

Finally, PBGG assessments should be updated regularly. Conflict, governance and gender dynamics tend to be highly fluid; last year’s data and analysis may be of limited help in responding to current challenges.