What made you decide to research this topic?
Since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, measuring effectiveness has been a hot topic in the world of peace operations. Iraq really spurred this debate because the US government could not identify how much they were spending or on what activities in order to convert Iraq into a free democratic state. Although six years have passed, there remains no framework for measuring intervention progress in places like Afghanistan, Haiti and Liberia that lets us know if we are “doing things right” or “doing the right things”. Because stakeholders involved in peace operations have different ways of measuring effectiveness, the research department at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre wanted to identify better ways to measure and think about measuring, so we could contribute to the overall effectiveness of peace operations.
What is the most important message that can be taken from your book?
Instead of a “unity of effort” among stakeholders involved in operations, we must collectively focus on” unity of understanding” among stakeholders. Whether we like it or not, peace operations functions within a common trade space, and in order to measure what matters it becomes critical to understand the roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders functioning within this space.
Who will benefit from the book? How?
The stakeholders of peace operations - civilians, police, government representatives, private sector, recipient populations and the military – will all benefit from reading Measuring What Matters in Peace Operations and Crisis Management. The book provides a comprehensive overview of the worldviews of each of the stakeholder groups, as well as the mechanisms and tools that help us measure what matters in intervention activities.
How could this book affect peace operations policy?
A series of policy options directed to the international community are provided in the book that could lead the international community to make better decisions and to create better frameworks for measuring our progress in places around the world. As the environment of peace operations changes, so too must the policies and practices of the international community. This book provides guidelines for these changes.
Why do you think measuring progress is such an important topic?
If we do not understand where we are, we will not know where we need to go. Peace Operations stakeholders have been very good at measuring their own performance – almost like auditing – however, there is little focus put on measuring the significance of the impact of our work in places like Afghanistan. If we cannot correctly assess the effects of what we have done, we cannot know how to recalibrate our activities to create the positive outcomes we all desire: peaceful, stable societies.
What finding in the interviews surprised you the most?
Over 80 interviews in nine countries were conducted in support of this book. The most surprising comments that occurred in the interviews were that most people suggested that there was a genuine lack of synergies between stakeholders regarding measuring effectiveness. No one seemed to know what the other groups were doing. The military does one thing (or many), while the civilian humanitarians, government reps, civilian police and host nations all use their own systems for measuring what matters to them. I found it interesting that despite the progress made within the international community, that there remain significant divisions between otherwise amicable parties.
What is the next step for you in this area of research?
The Research Department at the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre will use this research in its education, training and capacity building courses. A learning module and a handbook on measuring what matters will be integrated into the Centre’s courses. In addition, we have created an online research cluster to further the research conducted for the book. All interested practitioners are welcome to join. All they have to do is send me an email at smeharg@peaceoperations.org and they will be invited into the research cluster.