CDA Collaborative Learning Projects is a non-profit organization committed to improving the effectiveness of international actors who provide humanitarian assistance, engage in peace practice, and are involved in supporting sustainable development. CDA is home to the following four projects and staff:  

Do No Harm Project (DNH): Marshall Wallace, Nicole Goddard, Candice Montalvo  

Reflecting on Peace Practice Project (RPP): Peter Woodrow, Diana Chigas, Ethan Schechter  

Listening Project (LP): Dayna Brown, Isabella Jean, Candice Montalvo  

Corporate Engagement Project (CEP): Dost Bardouille, Ethan Schechter 

Our newsletter provides updates about recent activities and publications, including reports on what the projects are learning right now. For more information on who we are and what we do, please visit our website www.cdainc.com.
 

Welcome to the first CDA Newsletter of 2010. It is a great privilege to be able to introduce this edition as the new Executive Director of CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. 

Since my appointment was announced, I have been greatly encouraged by words of support, including at the recent donor consultation in Cambridge. At the same time, many of my former colleagues and associates at OECD, AusAID and elsewhere have remarked on the valuable contribution of CDA to good development, peacebuilding and humanitarian practice. The respect and high esteem that the organisation enjoys is testament to the reputation of the retired Executive Director, Mary B. Anderson, whose work has provided inspiration to many people over many years. I wish her and her husband well in their retirement. 

Bringing the views of communities to the fore, ensuring that we are accountable to them and encouraging good practices will remain central to the work of CDA. It is an agenda that has not diminished. It remains highly pertinent to aid agencies, humanitarian organisations, donors and companies seeking to improve the effectiveness of their assistance to communities in developing countries and to manage the risks associated with operating in unfamiliar environments. In looking to the future, I am absolutely confident that CDA will continue to rise to the challenge and remain at the forefront of developments in good practice and accountability. Personally, I look forward to meeting many of the supporters of CDA in the years ahead.

DNH "New Model of the Framework" Issue Paper In this paper we are trying to capture how people actually use DNH. Do not be alarmed: the new "Loop" will not replace the old "Boxes"! The new "Action" Framework can supplement the old "Relationship" Framework through providing a greater sense of how DNH can be applied. The new "Circle" has now been presented alongside the old "Square" in several workshops around the world and has received positive feedback from practitioners trying to understand how DNH works in the field. We would like even more feedback!

CEP review of Avatar Dost reviews the film Avatar through a CEP lens. She really enjoyed the movie, but not for the reasons she expected. Avatar actually highlights the complexities faced in development and corporate social responsibility in a resource rich location.

LP in FriEnt Newsletter Dayna contributed an article to the German Working Group on Development and Peace (FriEnt) newsletter about the importance of listening to those on the receiving end of assistance. (November 2009)

New Listening Exercise Report Solomon Islands (November 2009)

New Reflecting on Peace Practice Cumulative Impact Cases Online The Impacts of Peacebuilding Work on the Aceh Conflict is now available online. (December 2009)

Do No Harm and Peacebuilding Article Published Hechos del Callejón, the publication of UNDP in Colombia, has published Nicole's article, "Do No Harm and Peacebuilding: Five Lessons" (English ) (Spanish) (February 2010)

RPP Consultation in Cambridge An RPP Cumulative Case Consultation (pictured above) was held in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Participants analyzed five new Cumulative Impact Case Studies: Haiti, Mindanao, Mozambique, South Africa, and Cambodia. The project is developing new Issue Papers, and feedback workshops are planned for near the future. (January 2010)

DNH and Liberia Peace Building Office DNH completed the first of three trips to Liberia to collaborate with Liberian PBO to incorporate DNH lessons into PBO practices. During these trips, CDA will work with the PBO to help mainstream DNH throughout the Liberian government. (November 2009) 

DNH and Afghanistan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development  Marshall traveled to Afghanistan to contribute to the MRRD's process of creating a network of DNH-trained community leaders at the grassroots level. This was the first in a series of visits to work with MRRD. (December 2009)

ALNAP Meeting in London Dayna co-facilitated a workshop on “User-Generated Innovations” at the 25th Annual Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action meeting (November 2009)

Quality and Accountability Initiatives Meeting Dayna chaired the semi-annual meeting in London of various initiatives focused on improving quality and accountability in humanitarian work (including SPHERE, HAP, ALNAP, People in Aid, Emergency Capacity Building Program, Groupe URD, and others). (November 2009)

"Working in Conflict Contexts” Panel Dayna participated on a panel at George Washington University in Washington, DC (December 2009)

CEP presentation at the World Bank Dost presented the CEP findings to World Bank staff; presentation chaired by Hannfried von Hindenburg, and lead by discussant Dafna Tapiero, both of the World Bank Community Development Strategy & Coordination Unit. (November 2009)

CEP presentation at the US Institute for Peace Luc and Dost presented the CEP findings at a Private Sector Roundtable event, hosted by the Jennings Randolph Senior Fellowship Program of the United States Institute of Peace. (December 2009)

CEP presentation at the CAO, World Bank Luc and Dost presented the CEP findings to Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) and International Finance Corporate (IFC) staff of the World Bank group. (December 2009)

CEP presentation at the International Council of Swedish Industry (NIR) Dost presented the CEP findings at a Round Table Meeting on Corporate Activity in Conflict Prone Markets, hosted by NIR and Sida. (January 2010)

DNH Spoke at Global Response 2010 - International Conference on Violent Conflict and Health Marshall was one of the featured presenters at the conference in Copenhagen, which brought together experts on health and conflict from around the world for four days of discussion. (January 2010)

UNDP-BCPR Evaluation RPP is in the process of conducting an evaluation of conflict prevention initiatives supported by the UNDP Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery. This work included an evaluation of the conflict prevention portfolio in Ghana, as well as short reviews of work in Ecuador and Kenya, interviews with UN staff in New York and Geneva, and phone interviews with UN staff around the world. RPP submitted an interim report to BCPR in December and is in discussions about expanding on this work in 2010. (November - December 2009)

Systems Thinking meeting in Zurich RPP met with a group of European partners on the application of systems thinking in peacebuilding. A follow-up meeting will take place in Washington, DC in February.

DNH Feedback Consultations This spring, Nicole will travel to Asia to conduct a series of Feedback Workshops with practitioners and trainers. If you or others you know are interested in participating, let us know.

• Colombo (February)
• Jakarta (February)
• Manila (March)
• Davao (March)
• Phnom Penh (March)

LP Moves Into a New Phase  The Listening Project has now completed 20 Listening Exercises and is moving into analysis and writing up the findings. A number of additional Issue Papers will be written over the coming months and a few more Feedback Workshops will be organized to share the findings and get feedback from those who fund and provide international assistance efforts. The following Feedback Workshops are being planned in the next few months—if you or others you know are interested in participating, please let us know.

• London
• Nairobi
• Bangkok
• Manila
• Canberra and Melbourne
• New York

CEP and the UN Global Compact  CEP is working with the UN Global Compact to develop their document Implementing the UN Global Compact principles in conflict-affected or high-risk areas: guidance for companies and investors. CEP is currently authoring chapters on 1. Local Stakeholder Engagement and 2. Strategic Social Investment.

CEP and the Berghof Handbook  CEP has submitted a draft for the updated chapter of “Opportunities for Synergy; Conflict Transformation and the Corporate Agenda” in Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation. Berghof Research Center for Constructive Conflict Management, Berlin. 

CEP Presentation at Corporate Social Responsibility Event Luc will present CEP findings at a CSR event hosted by the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in Mozambique (February 2010). 

CEP course at MIT CEP will teach a short course at the Sloan School of Business Innovation Period, MIT entitled Effective Sensemaking: Making (Strategic and) Responsible Business Decisions on Community Engagement in New and Complex Contexts (March 2010).

DNH Workshop Marshall and Nicole will run a one day workshop with ACTS students in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in March.

RPP Feedback Workshop Marshall and Nicole will also run an RPP feedback workshop while they are in Phnom Penh.

DNH Reflective Case Studies DNH Reflective Cases will be written on Philippines and Cambodia in March and April.

Tracking the RPP Online Learning Community RPP is documenting the experiences of members of the RPP Learning Community on their use of RPP tools and materials. Interviews of the European members of the Learning Community are underway. Interviews with members from other regions will be completed by spring, 2010.

Linking Conflict, Aid and Development Course at American University CDA will run this week-long course for a second year! It will take place in early June.

Sometimes we are really impressed by something we've read. And sometimes someone has written something about us or one of our tools, we would like to share that with you too.

Blue Ocean Strategy, by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, is a business book that has valuable lessons for all of us. The authors analyze a set of strategic decisions and come up with general ideas about strategy and some tools for analyzing what it is we are actually doing when we implement strategy. In the "Three E Principles of Fair Process"  the authors encapsulate what they heard about listening in the business context and come up with some very good language to describe this process and their findings.

In the Shadow of Violence: The Politics of Armed Groups, by Klaus Schlichte. KOFF featured this book in their most recent Newsletter so we got it and read it. In one sitting. It is that good. The author and his research team ask how armed groups turn violence into legitimacy and explore the strategies they employ.

Do No Harm: International Support for Statebuilding is the title of the new paper from the OECD DAC International Network on Conflict and Fragility (INCAF). It outlines issues at the donor policy level that can undermine and weaken states they are attempting to support. This is a DNH handbook for policy makers!