Evaluation Report 4/2002: Legal Aid Against the Odds

Evaluation of the Civil Rights Project (CRP) of the Norwegian Refugee Council in former Yugoslavia

Pages: 78

ISBN: 82-7177-707-6

Conducted by:

The Danish Centre for Human Rights

Evaluation of:

The ongoing Civil Rights Project (CRP) of the Norwegian Refugee Council in former Yugoslavia.

Purpose:

The evaluation’s remit was to analyse the CRP’s performance during the period 1996-2000, looking at relevance, efficiency, quality, cost effectiveness, administration/management and human resource development. This included assessing the impact of the project on democracy building and the establishment of the rule of law, assessing the project’s applicability in other areas/countries, and looking at possible exit strategies.

Evaluation Summary:

Today the CRP has a total of 13 offices located in Croatia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. In the period 1996-2001 a total of 43 personnel from different countries, mostly young lawyers, were stationed at these field offices. According to the evaluation team they provided sound legal services of a high standard under difficult conditions, and worked hard at finding creative solutions to their clients’ problems. The co-operation with other international organisations was productive, due largely to the CRP’s high credibility in the region.

An important – and very successful – CRP activity has been provision of vital documents to refugees and persons with a minority background by means of its network of offices, which are able to operate across borders. The CRP has also provided legal assistance and representation in connection with conflict-related matters, including recovery of real property, pension rights, tenancy rights, questions of nationality, and labour and employment matters, which the evaluation team considered to be highly relevant. Overall, the project has focused more on the possibilities of return than on local integration in the place of refuge. In the latter case, solutions have been slow in coming, due to political and legal obstacles and poorly functioning legal and administrative systems.

The CRP has received more than half of its funding from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, amounting to approximately NOK 58 million between 1996 and 2001. The project has in general been run in a cost-effective manner, although it was found to have higher costs per case than national NGOs in the Balkans because of the higher salaries. Further comparisons were difficult due to the lack of adequate data.

Recommendations:

Even though useful data registration and information tracking systems were developed under the project, reporting and comparison procedures could be improved to enable a more accurate assessment of relative rates of success between the various strategies and offices. Statistical reporting internally and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may also be improved.

Working more closely with national NGOs providing similar services would have several advantages. It would enhance capacity building and also help achieve a secondary goal, i.e. strengthening civil society as part of the Norwegian Refugee Council’s exit strategy.

Follow-up:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Refugee Council are currently discussing the recommendations and several may be incorporated into the work of the CRP at a later date.