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Defining
Theories of Change
CARE International UK
Peacebuilding with Impact
January 2012
1 Executive Summary
2 Introduction
3 Methodology
4 Main Findings
5 Recommendations
6 Acknowledgements
Contents
“This publication has been produced with the assistance of the

European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole
responsibility of CARE International and International Alert
and
can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European
Union.”
For more information, please contact: +44 207 091 6074
[email protected]; www.careinternational.org
CARE International uk Peacebuilding with imPact: defining
theories of change 1
1 Executive Summary
Focusing on theories of change
can improve the effectiveness of
peacebuilding interventions. A review
of 19 peacebuilding projects in three
conflict-affected countries found that
the process of articulating and reviewing
theories of change adds rigour and
transparency, clarifies project logic,
highlights assumptions that need to be
tested, and helps identify appropriate
participants and partners. However,
the approach has limitations, including
the difficulty of gathering theory-
validating evidence.
While they are not a panacea, devoting greater attention
to theories of change is a simple and relatively inexpensive
means of increasing the quality of peacebuilding
interventions. Donors and peacebuilding agencies should
review their procedures to encourage and accommodate more
widespread focus on theories of change, and ensure adequate

resources are set aside to allow appropriate monitoring of
these theories throughout the life of an intervention.
A focus on theories of change led to the following key findings:
• Clarifying project logic helps highlight tenuous
assumptions;
• Clearly identifying the aims of activities and measures
of success strengthens project design;
• Determining the appropriate actors to work with, and not
just the easy-to-reach, enables better programme focus;
• More explicit links need to be made between local level
activities and national peace processes for desired changes
to occur;
• Conflict analysis is critical for determining the relevance
of activities but is rarely done;
• Staff often require support in ensuring their theories
of change are sufficiently explicit;
• Current projec t planning tools do not help practitioners
articulate their theories of change;
• Gathering evidence to validate a theory of change
is challenging, particularly in conditions of conflict
and fragility;
• Critical review of theories of change needs to be undertaken
in conjunction with other forms of evaluation to have
maximum value;
• Theories of change can encourage an overly linear

approach, when change in conflict contexts can be more
organic or systemic.
Recommendations:
1 Donors should revise their logical frameworks guidance to
encourage the use of theories of change, notably to include
them within the ‘assumptions and risks’ column of existing
logical frameworks or by adding an additional column.
2 Theories of change need to be as precise, nuanced and
contextually specific as possible and be based on broad
conflict analysis.
3 Practitioners need to articulate theories of change within
a hierarchy of results and to review these periodically
throughout the implementation of a project, particularly if
conflict dynamics change.
4 Donors should encourage funded agencies to review their
theories of change throughout the project cycle and make
resources available for this.
2 CARE International uk Peacebuilding with imPact: defining
theories of change
2 Introduction
As 2015 approaches, the World Bank
reports that no conflict-affected country
has achieved any of the Millennium
Development Goals.1 States, donors,
NGOs and, most importantly, conflict-

affected populations are all concerned
with improving the practice of building
peace and securing development. This
paper coincides with the new vision for
statebuilding and peacebuilding agreed
at the Busan aid effectiveness conference
in December 2011. We hope the findings
will lead to strengthened peacebuilding
in the future.
One of the long-standing challenges to successful peacebuilding
has been the difficulty of measuring results and generating
evidence that can help identify what types of interventions
work best. Part of the challenge is that peace itself is an elusive
concept, made up of innumerable factors that can be hard to
define. Peacebuilding projects often seek changes in people’s
perceptions, attitudes and behaviours toward one another –
areas that are less tangible than, say, their health, or access to
credit, and often more difficult to measure. If an intervention
is successful in preventing a conflict, a further challenge
is demonstrating the counterfactual (i.e. what would have
happened in the absence of the initiative). Moreover, agencies
have struggled to demonstrate how interventions that target
grassroots level actors ‘add up’ to building peace at the national
or even regional level.
Theory-based evaluation is a promising approach to help
explain how lower level results influence higher level results,
an area of weakness in many peacebuilding projects. The OECD
DAC has found that peacebuilding work in particular is often
based on “approaches and tactics that are rooted in implicit
theories of change”, but that in many cases “such theories are
subconscious and unstated.”2 Research conducted by CARE
and CDA Collaborative Learning Projects in Kosovo3 found
that
many peacebuilding interventions were ineffective because of

inadequate theories of change.
To advance the use of theory-based inquiry within the field
of peacebuilding, CARE International and International Alert
decided to undertake a two and a half year research project
to assess how using theories of change in a ‘light touch’ way
could contribute to monitoring and evaluating peacebuilding
projects.
This paper is a summary of the findings of research that
assessed 19 peacebuilding projects in three conflict-affected
countries: Uganda, Nepal and the Democratic Republic
of the Congo. Individual country-specific papers are also
available and a ‘How to Guide to Using Theories of Change in
Peacebuilding’ is forthcoming.
What is a theory of change?
Peacebuilding programming is built on numerous assumptions,
or “theories of change”, about how interventions contribute to
peace. In its simplest form a theory of change can be stated as,
“We believe that by doing X (action) it will achieve Y (progress
towards peace)”. For example, “If we train key leaders in
negotiating skills, they will become more effective advocates
for their interests through nonviolent means”. Or, “If we
generate jobs for unemployed youth, they will be less available
to be recruited to violence”.
A theory of change clearly articulates the intended activity
(the ‘if’ part), and the expected change it will bring about (the
‘then’ part or parts). Articulating a theory of change offers
a clearer picture of the intended result from an action, and
explains how programme activities and results are connected
with each other and contribute to achieving results at different
levels. In other words, a well-articulated theory of change
represents a testable hypothesis regarding how the planned

activities will contribute to achieving the desired results for
the programme.
An example of a peacebuilding theory of change that was
researched in this project, from the Ministry of Peace and
Reconstruction in Nepal, is: “If there is evidence of peaceful
resolution of conflict, then confidence on and acceptance of
peacebuilding mechanisms is increased”.
Every action we take, from the overall goal of the project
to each single activity, has a theory of change behind it.
The theory of change, then, is a tool that can be used to
explain and articulate the logical connection between a lower
level result and a higher level result. Thus, it can be used
to design, monitor and evaluate social change initiatives,
including peacebuilding.
1 World Bank, Global Monitoring Report 2011: Improving the
Odds of Achieving
the MDGs, April 14, 2011.
2 DAC Network on Conflict, Peace and Development Co-
operation, and DAC
Network on Development Evaluation, Guidance on Evaluating
Conflict
Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities, 2008.
3 CARE International and CDA Collaborative Learning
Projects;
Has Peacebuilding Made a Difference in Kosovo?, July 2006.

When reviewing a theory of change, the theory should be
reviewed in its two components: the ‘if’, and the ‘then’. In the
above example, to review the ‘if’, we would start by asking if
evidence of peaceful resolution of conflict was generated. If it
was, we would review the ‘then’. Did this evidence contribute
to confidence and acceptance of [local] peacebuilding
mechanisms? This is the starting point for reviewing a theory
of change. As most peacebuilding projects do not explicitly
articulate a theory of change, it is often necessary to do so
retroactively, as was done through this research project.
What is peacebuilding?
There are many definitions of peacebuilding, but this project
used the following: “Peacebuilding is understood as a
comprehensive concept that encompasses, generates, and
sustains the full array of processes, approaches, and stages
needed to transform conflict toward more sustainable,
peaceful relationships. The term thus involves a wide range of
activities that both precede and follow formal peace accords.
Metaphorically, peace is seen not merely as a stage in time or a
condition. It is a dynamic social construct”.4
Three research teams in Uganda, Nepal
and the Democratic Republic of the
Congo were established and guided by
a steering committee of advisors. The
teams comprised representatives from
international and local NGOs, government
agencies and academics. (See Annex I for
a full list of participants and projects).
During the two and a half year project, 19 projects of varying
size and ambition were selected and 38 theories of change
were reviewed. Projects have multiple theories of change
within a hierarchy of results, but it would have been too large
an undertaking to review them all. We asked partners to select

one to three theories of change to review over the life of this
project. (The average was two theories of change per project.)
Of the 38 theories of change, 15 had an element of capacity
building, 10 involved dialogue, seven involved work with
the media, and five established peace or conflict resolution
mechanisms, such as peace centres or committees.
Prior to the start of the project, only three of the 19 projects
had explicitly stated a theories of change. For the other
projects, ‘retrospective’ theories of change were articulated
and tested by the country teams. This was done by referring
to the project design, consulting implementation staff, and
reviewing each project’s proposal documents. Each of the
research teams participated in three-day workshops that
included training components on theories of change, along
with other elements of design, monitoring and evaluation.
Articulating theories of change was new to most of the
practitioners. As a result, initial theories of change were
often vague or unclear as to the project’s intended change.
Therefore, time was taken to explore imprecise terms, such
as capacity building, engagement and empowerment. These
terms needed to be refined in order to enable monitoring and
evaluation of the associated theory of change. In some cases,
the research team members revised their project’s theories
of change and the project’s actual activities. This was seen as
a positive sign, as the teams became more confident in their
knowledge and application of theories of change. As such,
their ability to review their own projects, and the projects of
others, increased.
It is important to note that the research effort used a
‘light touch’ approach to theory-based evaluation in
researching, monitoring and evaluating the projects.
Our aim was to improve the quality and effectiveness of
civil society and government peacebuilding and conflict

prevention programming by critically evaluating assumptions
underpinning peacebuilding programming. It was envisioned
that this would be accomplished through developing
and piloting means to demonstrate results, and building
local capacity in design, monitoring and evaluation. To
fully evaluate the projects using theory-based evaluation
would have required teams of expert evaluators to rule out
alternative theories of change for projects, which was outside
the scope of this initiative.
Since the research team members began articulating and
researching theories of change, participating agencies have
developed five new programmes/projects with a clear focus
on theories of change. Two agencies in DRC and Uganda have
recently started programming based on the learning from
this project.
3 Methodology
4 John Paul Lederach, Building Peace: Sustainable
Reconciliation in Divided
Societies, U.S. Institute of Peace Press, 1997.
2 Introduction continued
theories of change
4 Main findings
The benefits of a focus on the theory
of change:
1 Clarifies project logic and tackles inadequate

assumptions
The process of identifying the hierarchy of results, or results
chain, unanimously helped clarify the logic of a project, and
articulate the intended change from each of the activities
and how they link together. The process of developing a
hierarchy of results also identified whether the assumptions
underpinning activities were sound and helped reveal
whether the planned activities would likely achieve the
goal. Articulating the theories of change associated with
the activities within the hierarchy enabled people to identify
the intended change of each activity, what would constitute
success of a specific activity, and what was essential to
achieve results. This process made it possible to strengthen
significantly the impact of the projects reviewed.
In one case, for example, a partner organisation assumed that
training a small number of university students in debating
methods would have ripple effects and promote non-violent
means of dispute resolution amongst a wider body of students
and the public more broadly. However, the research process
revealed that the project design included no activities for
sharing the new debating methods amongst the larger student
body. In addition, the project design had not identified how to
reach the wider community; it was simply relying on debates
in public forums to inspire people to engage in alternative
dispute resolution.
2 Identifies the appropriate actors to work with
Articulating and researching theories of change enables
implementers to more clearly identify who, why and to
what end different individuals and groups are targeted in
peacebuilding projects. This is important, given that in all
three countries it was revealed that the projects were, to some
degree, working with people who were easy to reach, and were
often working in isolation with beneficiary groups, rather with
than multiple key actors and stakeholders to the conflict. In

Nepal projects focused on youth; in Uganda they addressed
victims of conflict, rather than perpetrators of conflict; and in
DRC they emphasised the inclusion of women in peacebuilding
processes.5
Inappropriate or ill-defined targeting was brought out most
strongly in Nepal, where all six of the projects reviewed
had an element of engaging with youth. The rationale for
focusing on youth was that they were seen as a source of
violent actions in Nepal. By engaging with youth, therefore,
projects could prevent futures violent conflicts. However,
during implementation it was revealed that one of the projects
engaged youth in general and failed to work with ‘political
youth’ as key actors. The project also neglected other political
actors who might have influenced the ability of the youth to
participate in decision making, namely elders who were active
in decision making structures within the communities and the
political party structures. On the positive side, as a result of the
findings of this project, the implementing agency decided to
amend activities in years two and three to extend to political
youth.
Conversely, in one project in Uganda working to address
national policy around oil production and wealth distribution,
the right actors were identified and engaged in the project
design. Credible and knowledgeable national actors and local
officials were used to consult and recommend policy creation.
By drawing together the right combination of actors, including
those who could advise and those with power, the project was
able to achieve greater effectiveness. (See text box Case Study:
Uganda).
A number of the projects faced the common peacebuilding
challenge of finding the right balance between engaging
with political groups and being co-opted by them. In some

situations key actors attempted to capture the work of the
interventions. In other cases, political actors were avoided,
as they were seen as too controversial. Researching theories
of change can help reveal these challenges and provide a
framework for reflecting on them.
Case study: Uganda
In Uganda, International Alert (Alert) worked with civil
society, the oil industry and Government to reduce the
risk of violent conflict by improving space for dialogue and
sharing information on possible economic exploitation
of newly discovered oil deposits. The particular theory
of change articulated and researched during the project
stated: ‘If there is constructive engagement among key
stakeholders on political economy issues, then it will
improve information flow and lead to a shift in policy and
decision making’.
The research determined that the original context
analysis was sound: “The projects were also anchored
on contextual realities identified through community
analyses and assessments, the identification of relevant
stakeholders, constant consultations on issues of peace
and development, and analysing previous country reports”.
Evidence gathered regarding the ‘if’ clause found: The
key constructive engagement among oil companies,
Government and civil society stakeholders was seen in
their joint presence at district dialogue meetings set up by
International Alert, and the increased responsiveness of oil
companies and Government to information requests over
the project period.
5 In DRC, the projects reviewed all related to engaging women
as peacebuilders.

This was due to the fact that the projects under review were all
implementing
partners of International Alert’s Great Lakes programme, which
has a focus
on women as peacebuilders and a history of partnership with
women-focused
organisations.
Evidence gathered on the ‘then’ clause found a change in
information flow, policy and decision making. Information
flow increased as the Civil Society Coalition on Oil (CSCO)
advocated and succeeded in getting the Government to
organise further dialogue meetings between civil society and
oil companies, where community concerns were discussed.
Additionally, after requests from Alert and others, the
Government opened up an oil information office in Hoima.
The project could also claim results in the policy sphere, since
the CSCO made a contribution to the draft petroleum bill
and “has been consulted on the development of oil policy in
Uganda”. However, details on the nature of the consultation,
and whether the CSCO suggested changes were adopted were
not gathered, making definite conclusions difficult. The
inclusion of the CSCO in consultation might also indicate a
change in decision making space, but real evidence of this is
lacking at this stage.
Alert’s approach relied on their good links with many of
the key stakeholders, which allowed them to foster the
constructive engagement, leading to change. Evidence
of this includes how Alert positioned this project within

the framework of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
Development in the Ugandan Government, and a 2008
policy that called for an increase in information flows.
Similarly, an oil company requested that Alert carry out a
conflict footprint assessment on their behalf, based on the
work Alert had done providing information to investors
on how to avoid contributing to land conflict in Northern
Uganda. On the civil society side, Alert played a role
alongside other civil society organisations in forming the
CSCO to engage particularly on political economy issues.
International Alert and the research team did consider
other factors which may have contributed to the changes.
It was noted that, even before the project, both the oil
companies and the Government were aware of the risk
posed by oil extraction to the stability of the region, and
both had also been motivated to engage with the public in
some manner.
Whether influenced by the project or independently, Tullow
Oil has subsequently established a liaison office in one of
the target districts to ease tension with communities and
civil society and to address rumours around the uses of oil
revenue. On the Government side, researchers found that
consultative meetings between community members and
Government officials had done much to raise community
knowledge. This points to the other sources of information
available to communities, apart from Alert’s own activities,
requiring more research to determine which activities led
to the greatest and most valuable increases in information.
3 Identifies the gaps between local and national
level changes
Exploring theories of change revealed that more explicit
links need to be made between local level and national peace

processes for desired changes to occur. Eighteen of the 19
projects focussed on local or district levels, with a significant
emphasis on local change. Only one project worked at the
national policy level. However 14 of the 18 claimed to feed
messages up to the national level or to address the ‘Peace Writ
Large’. The project review process showed that engagement
at the national level was weak or non-existent in most
cases. For example, one project in Nepal specifically stated
that the lessons from engaging at the local level would be
communicated to the Constituent Assembly, but there were
no activities in the project to achieve this. This indicates that
projects tended to have ‘hope lines’ in which changes at the
individual or community level would somehow affect changes
at a higher district or national level. In another project ‘hope
lines’ extended downwards from higher levels, rather than
upwards and also faced problems of linkage. In this case, the
aim was to include women in decision making at the national
level, but there has been little resulting impact at the local
level. Furthermore, it was generally found that local structures
that were created for dialogue, such as peace clubs and
committees, were often not explicitly linked to subnational
and national structures. It was assumed – wrongly – that the
links to government institutions would happen naturally.
Case study: Nepal
In Nepal, CARE implements the “Women and Youth as
Pillars of Sustainable Peace” project. The project’s specific
objective is that: By 2012 the capacity of the Shanti Malika
peace network is strengthened to advocate for the rights of
500 conflict affected, Poor Vulnerable and Socially Excluded
(PVSE) groups of women and youth.
Without conducting a formal conflict analysis, broader
situational analyses allowed CARE to identify the structural
inequality of PVSE women and youth as a priority for

peacebuilding in Nepal.
The theory of change articulated and researched during
the project stated: “If peace centres are strengthened and
capacities of Peace Ambassadors, Community Journalists,
Peace Pressure Groups and Mediators are developed to
enable them to raise the issues of PVSEs up, then peace
groups will contribute to local peacebuilding processes”.
4 Main findings continued
theories of change
Evidence gathered on the ‘if’ clause found that: at
community level, capacities were enhanced of peace
ambassadors, citizen journalists, community mediation
support workers, psycho-social counselling workers and
village peace pressure groups. The project has contributed
to creating active and functional local peace actors and
peace mechanisms. At the district level, establishment of
the peace centres has created a space for interacting and
discussing PVSE women and youth issues for inclusion and
policy advocacy activities.
Evidence gathered on the ‘then’ clause found that: trained
mediators are processing local disputes, citizen journalists
are providing updates of the work by the pressure groups
to radio stations, pressure groups are raising issues and
concerns of PVSEs to local level government committees;
and they are facilitating PVSE access to resources through
service providers. Peace ambassadors are being invited to
attend and contribute to the meetings of other networks.
Women from pressure groups are now representing the

consulted community groups, and these groups have begun
to take collective action against harmful social practises
and norms, etc.
These positive changes are welcome however the
underlying structures that sustain the inequality of PVSE
groups have not yet been addressed.
4 Highlights ineffective activities
The research identified significant problems with reliance
on capacity building as an activity. This highlights a need to
critically review the rationale for doing capacity building. Is
it essential for addressing the underlying causes of conflict,
or is it a familiar approach that is used purely as a matter of
routine? Capacity development alone will not necessarily bring
change. The research on a project in Nepal further highlighted
that other activities that are implemented alongside capacity
building can have a much greater impact. In that case, the trust
building initiatives of Local Peace Committees were much more
highly valued by respondents in terms of stronger network
building than capacity building activities of the same project.
The research showed that despite efforts to build the skills and
abilities of particular groups, the opportunity for those groups
to actually make significant change was often constrained by
factors unrelated to their capacities. In other words, a lack of
capacity was not the (only) problem. Thus projects that involve
capacity building need to identify potential blockages (beyond
lack of capacity) that would inhibit participants to perform the
hoped-for roles.
In Nepal one theory of change related to the capacity building
of a range of actors, including women: “If the peace centre
is strengthened and the capacities of peace ambassadors,
citizen journalists, peace pressure groups and mediators

are developed to enable them to raise the issues of poor,
vulnerable and socially excluded, then peace groups will
contribute to local peacebuilding processes”. The research
revealed several structural blockages were preventing the
realisation of the enhanced capacity. Mediators reported that
there was a lack of acceptance and trust from the communities
that prevented them from performing their roles, and that
there were sensitivities around sharing private ‘household’
issues with outsiders. In addition, citizen journalists reported
that they did not have any official authorisation to work as
journalists, and so had difficulty in collecting information.
5 Emphasises the need for conflict analysis
Working with theories of change ensures that practitioners
more effectively assess the conflict context in which they are
working, as they need the basis for judging the relevance of
their intervention. The importance of starting with a conflict
analysis has been stressed throughout existing literature on
peacebuilding design, and is reinforced by the findings of this
project. Nevertheless, only three out of nine projects in Uganda
had performed such as analysis. In Nepal, only two of the
project
designs were based on a fresh conflict analysis. In DRC, all four
projects examined were based on context and conflict analyses,
but the research revealed that these were incomplete.
Often practitioners assume that they understand the conflict
context. For example, one partner organisation felt that they
possessed a good understanding of the conflicts around them
and felt confident in their approach, based upon years of
experience working in the area. It was only when they reviewed
their hierarchy of results and theories of change that they
realised that their activities were not sufficiently relevant to
the conflict they were trying to address. Conflicts are complex
and in constant flux; once a theory of change is articulated,

there may well be changes in conflict dynamics that make the
planned project pathway no longer relevant. Explicitly laying
out a conflict analysis in the first place enables the practitioner
to review progress and assess if the activities and results are
still
relevant to the conflict. In addition, improved conflict analysis
will also help to focus efforts on the underlying causes, rather
than the more superficial effects of conflict. For example many
of the projects focussed on mediation of local land disputes,
cattle rustling or access over natural resources, yet few of the
projects sought to address land policy at the national level, or
customs around dowries required for marriage, which were
some of the key drivers of the conflicts.
6 Enhances conflict sensitivity
By articulating the theory of change, peace practitioners
involved in this initiative have had to think deeply about what
is needed to create results in each specific project. This has led
to both minor and major changes in programming. At least
three projects were revealed to be contributing to conflict
inadvertently, that is to say they were conflict insensitive.
One project in Nepal did not identify or address inequitable
power structures. By targeting youth in general, and not
specifically engaging women or dalit (lowest caste) people,
the project reinforced structural inequality around caste and
gender. In Uganda, the research revealed that a food aid
project, which also aimed to address local conflict dynamics,
was not engaging in peacebuilding activities and was actually
causing harm to the vulnerable beneficiaries by making them

targets for violent robbery, due to long distances between
distribution points. As a result, the partner suspended the
project and redesigned the intervention, starting with a new
conflict analysis. This learning and subsequent redesign is a
worthwhile result of the research project in itself. Too often
development and peacebuilding agencies are defensive about
their errors, but the most valuable lessons can only emerge
from honest appraisals of what has gone wrong as well as what
is successful, and is vital for preventing the same mistakes in
future initiatives.
7 Fosters collaboration between agencies and avoids
duplication
No one project/programme can address all the factors
relevant to ‘Peace Writ Large’. Identifying potential synergies
and linkages with other efforts, especially when there are
mandate limitations, is key to maximising efforts. As a result
of establishing and supporting research teams through this
project, agencies became more aware of each other’s work,
which helped avoid duplication of activities, as well as to
build synergies between initiatives and to share in joint
analysis processes. In Uganda, a participating organisation
conducted a macro level analysis process called Making Sense
of Turbulent Contexts and involved the research team as well
as their own programme staff.
In Nepal, based on a new awareness of NGO activities,
participating agencies decided that any new activities should
complement and not replicate the work of another. By working
together in research teams to undertake the research, the
participating organisations have enhanced their capacity in
peacebuilding project design, monitoring and evaluation. The
research teams formed ‘communities of practice’ and, when
identifying the theories of change in the research process,
team members supported each other by offering feedback.

One success of the research effort derived from the process
of convening peacebuilding practitioners within a given
context to share and compare their narratives of change and
stories of success and failure, enabling them to learn and
adapt together. All of the participants in the project agreed
that the co-operative learning that occurred in their own
projects, and their increased awareness of what others were
doing, was immense. The cooperative process also contributed
significantly to reviewing their projects, highlighting design
flaws that previously they had been blind to, or had lacked the
confidence to raise and address. Notably participants learned
about the importance of ensuring that an up-to-date conflict
analysis supports programming; without it a project could be
quite detached from the conflict. Although the research teams
are not funded beyond the end of this project, the hope is that
these newly formed communities of practice will continue
after the project period. In the case of Uganda, the research
team has agreed to meet bi-monthly to continue to share and
learn from each other’s work.
The limitations of theories of change
1 Many theories of change are non-explicit, vague or
inappropriate
As with any approach there are limitations to the usefulness of
theories of change, especially if the theories are not expressed
well, remain vague or are used in the wrong context, or if the
sensitivity of the issues being addressed makes it difficult
to discuss and articulate them openly. The examples in the
section above show how easy it is to target the wrong group,
or choose the wrong activity. Using theories of change does
not remove the possibility of errors, but rather makes it easier
to identify the gaps in a project’s logic. Nevertheless, correctly
articulating the theory can be difficult, and certainly at
first can be a time-consuming process requiring significant

support. Most of the partners involved in this research
struggled with using theories of change at the outset. This
difficulty is compounded by the reality of staff turnover and
the challenge of ensuring that incoming staff are confident
about the terminology and usefulness of theories of change.
2 Current project planning tools don’t help people
articulate their theories of change
Practitioners are under considerable pressure to use tools that
satisfy donor requirements around design, monitoring and
evaluation. Agencies may feel that using theories of change
is not worth the investment because at present donors do
not require it. One way around this problem would be to use
the ‘assumptions and risks’ column of project log frames to
articulate the theories behind each intervention, perhaps
with theories of change (i.e. assumptions) shown in different
typeface to differentiate them from risks. This would clarify
the logic behind the proposed intervention and provide a
platform for midterm and final evaluations.
3 Conflict Analysis is essential but rarely done
Without a conflict analysis to underpin a project, it is hard to
critically review theories of change within a project, as theories
must grow out of an understanding of the conflict context.
Yet as has been noted, very few of the intervention designs
reviewed through this project were based on a conflict analysis.
Some of the research team members were troubled that a
conflict analysis could point to underlying issues that were
significantly removed from their organisation’s mandate.
For instance, where the conflict related to land policy, a
peace education group might struggle to see how they could
usefully contribute. This points to the importance of working
collaboratively with other organisations operating in the
same context to ensure interventions form part of a coherent

response.
Given the importance of conflict analysis, NGOs and donors
need to invest more resources to ensure staff can undertake
‘good enough’ analysis, and most importantly are able to apply
the findings to the project design.
4 Main findings continued
theories of change
4 Gathering evidence is difficult
Despite the technical support through this project, the research
teams often found it hard to collect evidence to validate their
theories of change. Theory-based evaluation is a difficult task,
and
may require adequate time for results to be demonstrated –
often
beyond the life of a project that typically lasts one or two years.
Further, when gathering evidence for monitoring and
evaluation of the theories of change, not all of the
implementers successfully gathered evidence for the ‘then’
part of the theory of change (the result). All projects gathered
evidence for the ‘if’ part (the action undertaken), which was
easier to measure. By gathering data on the ‘if’ section, they
could establish whether the activity was done, and whether
it was done in an acceptable way. However, because they did
not fully evaluate the ‘then’ part of the theories of change,
the hoped-for change remained an assumption rather than a
conclusion supported by evidence. Monitoring and evaluation
systems need to be designed to capture the ‘then’ part of the
theories being tracked.

The DRC research team found that their projects addressed
relevant social problems but needed to improve the formulation
of objectives, intended results and SMART indicators. Research
on the following theory highlights this: “If women occupy
leadership positions inside given structures and institutions,
then they will be able to bring other women into peacebuilding
activities.” Evidence was gathered of the empowerment process
but the research did not conclusively prove how the women
were
now engaged in decision making bodies associated with conflict
resolution or peace. By developing the hierarchy of results, they
could develop targeted indicators of change rather than simply
indicators of performance.
Case study: Democratic Republic of the Congo
In DRC, the partner Caucus de femmes Congolaises du
Sud Kivu pour la Paix works to bring together Congolese
women in South Kivu Province from civil society, political
parties, public institutions, professions, faith traditions and
media to achieve peace and respect for human rights and
social well-being through women’s inclusive and effective
leadership. The project seeks to contribute to establishing
the rule of law and improving local governance through
fostering the effective leadership of women in South Kivu
province. The theory of change articulated and researched
through the project stated: “If women’s capacities are
built and they discover and value themselves, then they will
overcome fear and confront men in power”.
Evidence gathered on the ‘if’ clause found that capacity
was built in female leaders and potential leaders and in
campaigning, that women’s self-confidence and readiness
to vote increased, and that the number of women electoral
candidates and election observers increased. However

details were missing – for a full evaluation further
information would be needed to drill down on each of these
elements and ask to what extent these happened.
Evidence gathered on the ‘then’ clause found that women
were appointed to decision making positions in the
province, increased numbers of women were mobilising for
their communities’ interests and women were standing up
for their rights. This was demonstrated through women’s
rights being increasingly asserted, women speaking up
against degrading practices and in defence of their rights,
a decrease in domestic violence and an increase in men
participating in household chores. It was highlighted that
during the 2006 political elections “women leaders and
candidates trained in leadership, advocacy and lobbying
and political marketing were able to campaign and some of
them were elected, while others were appointed to decision
making positions”.
Other factors that may have contributed to these changes
for women included the involvement of other civil society
organisations and the existence of national and international
legal instruments for women’s protection. The research
team considered these factors, but did not prove or disprove
whether these other factors caused the changes observed.
The research was not sufficiently rigorous to prove
or disprove the theory of change, but the evidence
gathered indicates that it is working, but requires
strengthening.
5 Critical review of theories of change needs to
be undertaken in conjunction with other forms
of evaluation.

Researching theories of change needs to be undertaken in
conjunction with other forms of evaluation. Theory-based
evaluation looks at how a change occurs, and needs to be
supported by an outcome evaluation, which captures the
results (the ‘then’ part of the if-then statement). As a result
of this project, one organisation has developed a new theory
of change-based monitoring and evaluation system. The new
guidelines include various frameworks for monitoring context,
implementation quality, outcomes and also the theories
of change.
6 Theories of change can inadvertently encourage an
overly linear approach
Peacebuilding, as any other societal change endeavour, is
ultimately about navigating, facilitating, encouraging and
enabling an organic process of change, which is far from
linear. While theories of change were shown to be helpful
in articulating, testing and challenging peacebuilding
interventions, there is nevertheless a risk that they become
a tool for oversimplifying the contribution of an initiative.
Theories of change are just that – theories. They are useful
for laying out a hypothesis, but they need to be tested and
alternative theories of how the results were achieved must
be considered.
5 Recommendations
This research project examined the
utility of theories of change in a sample

of peacebuilding projects in three
countries. Overall, it found that they
are helpful in providing clarity, rigour
and transparency, improving targeting,
and allowing projects to be reviewed
and challenged constructively and
thus adjusted when necessary. They
do have limitations notably that they
can encourage an overly linear view of
complex social change, and they can
be technically challenging. While by
no means a magic bullet, they can help
improve the effectiveness of specific
projects and of the peacebuilding sector
as a whole. With this in mind, we make
the following recommendations:
Overall, we strongly encourage donors and peace
practitioners to invest in the theories of change approach
as part of a comprehensive design, monitoring and
evaluation system for peacebuilding programmes.
To do so would have the following implications:
a Practitioners need to review theories of change regularly
Peacebuilding theories of change need to be articulated
within the hierarchy of results at the design stage and
reviewed periodically throughout project implementation and
anytime there is a major shift in the context. Our review of the
projects highlighted that each project was underpinned by a
variety of assumptions, often unarticulated and untested.
b Donors should revise their logical frameworks to
encourage the use of theories of change
Given the value demonstrated by the theory of change
approach to the projects researched, and to ensure programme
quality is enhanced across the sector, donors should

integrate theories of change more explicitly into their logical
framework template and guidance. Peace practitioners
involved in this research project overwhelmingly felt that
the clarity achieved through articulating their hierarchies of
results and the theories of change within them contributed
significantly to the effectiveness of their interventions.
However, current design, monitoring and evaluation systems
do not sufficiently allow agencies to capture this level of
clarity. A straightforward starting point is to require that
theories of change are written into the ‘assumptions and
risks’ column of the logical framework template. Revising
the logical framework guidance will provide an incentive
to agencies to invest in building their staff capacity around
theories of change, and will ultimately improve the quality of
interventions because the link between each action and its
intended result is systematically considered. It will also assure
that this valuable information is not lost, but it is at hand to
review regularly.
c Donors should encourage reviews of theories of
change and communicate their flexibility on
redesigning interventions
Donors need to adopt a flexible approach to partner requests
to redesign interventions. Through analysis of their theories of
change, partners in this project discovered changes that could
be made to their interventions, but they were reluctant to
request redesigns for fear that it would reflect badly on them
or that the donor would not be receptive. Yet redesigning
interventions is natural and healthy, particularly in fluid or
volatile contexts.
d Make resources available to critically review theories
of change

Time and resources will need to be integrated into the design,
monitoring and evaluation plans for programmes seeking
to critically review their theories of change over the course
of their intervention. Practitioners will need to add it into
implementation, monitoring and evaluation plans, and donors
will need to financially support it and to allocate sufficient
staff time themselves. Ideally, key theories to be researched
would be identified at the design phase and the gathering of
evidence built into the project monitoring system, with any
design changes occurring as and when needed. Adopting this
approach has implications for project budgeting as resources
are required to raise the capacity of project staff, and time is
required to undertake this process thoroughly. Donors should
remain open to and encouraging of this type of review and
research.
e Donors and peacebuilding agencies need to be more
flexible in adopting new and different ways of working
The above recommendations require and imply a combination
of rigour, flexibility, long-term thinking and political
engagement that are too often discouraged within the
peacebuilding sector. To embrace the improved effectiveness
in peacebuilding required by the “new deal” on peacebuilding
and statebuilding agreed at the Busan High Level Forum on
Aid Effectiveness, peacebuilding actors will need to review
their systems and approaches to ensure they encourage and
incentivise the use of more effective methods such as theories
of change. This applies to donors, multi-laterals, NGOs and
governments in fragile contexts. Applied research into the
most effective ways to implement such changes would be
highly beneficial to the sector as a whole.
theories of change

6 Acknowledgements
This paper summarises the findings of
the European Commission-funded project
“Strengthening Capacity to Design,
Monitor and Evaluate Peacebuilding
Programming”. The lead writer was
Heidi Ober, with significant input from
Rachel Goldwyn, Paul-André Wilton,
Phil Vernon, and volunteer steering
committee members Diana Chigas,
Peter Woodrow, Hans Giessmann and
Mark M. Rogers. It is based on research
papers produced by project research teams
in Uganda, Nepal and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
Our special thanks to all the research team member
organisations and their representatives for providing their
time as well as continuous support in the overall process to
accomplish the research and produce this paper. The full list
of research team members are: Archana Aryal, Bhasker Kafle,
Bishnu Khatri, Punya Bhandari, Dipendra Tamang, Prakash
Bastola, Shaligram Sharma, Shiva Dhungana, Kumud Rana,
Shraddha Rayamajhi, Jackson Omona, Paddy Musana, Narcisio
Bangirana, Mark Amucu, Ayub Muhammad, Donnah Atwagala,
Joseph Besigye, Patrick Adupa, Rebman Kahima, Richard
Businge, Mashanda Murhega, Cishunguluka Kanan Amos,
Saidi Alo Ibya Sango, Bisimwa Kabomboro Bertin, Solange
Lwashiga Furaha, Bisimwa Faid Anne, Nabintu Helena, Giresse
Obed Kakozi, Misukyo Marie and Jeanine Mukoko.
We would like to acknowledge all the interviewees/
respondents from the district-level institutions and

participants of the focus group discussions for providing
information for the research. We are grateful to the respective
project teams in all the districts who spared their valuable time
and supported the entire research team during the fieldwork
and piloting.
Additional thanks to Ndeye Sow, Howard Mollett and Alice
Hutchinson who contributed to the paper.
Finally, our sincerest thanks go to the volunteer project
steering committee members Hans Giessmann, Diana Chigas,
Peter Woodrow, Rachel Goldwyn and Mark M. Rogers for their
technical support and guidance.
Annex 1 Participating organisations and projects
Uganda
1 Kabarole Research and Resource Centre (KRC)
Securing Sustainable Development through Pluralistic Local
Ownership in Rwenzori Region
2 Justice and Peace Commission (JPC)
Debating for Peaceful Conflict Transformation
3 World Vision Uganda
The Karamoja General Food Distribution
4 Teso Initiative for Peace (TIP)
Promotion of Peaceful Co-existence of Iteso and Karimojong
through Joint Activities

5 Peace and Conflict Studies (PCS) Programme,
Makerere University
Alternatives to Violence Project
6 The African Partnership Alliance for Citizens
Transformation
Amuru Integrated Natural Resource Conflict Resolution Project
7 Gulu and Amuru District Reconciliation and Peace Teams
(DRPTs)
Supporting Community Conflict Resolution and Peace-building
in Northern Uganda
8 International Alert
Aligning the Economy with Peace in Uganda
9 CARE International in Uganda
Conflict Transformation in the Acholi region
Nepal
10 Youth Action Nepal (YOAC)
Youth Initiatives for Sustainable Peace and Community
Development
11 Alliance for Peace
Mobilising Youth for Peacebuilding and Conflict
Transformation
12 Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction, Nepal
Local Peace Committees
13 Search for Common Ground (SFCG)
Youth and Peacebuilding

Public Security and Justice in Nepal: Building a Constructive
Role for Youth
15 CARE International in Nepal
Women and Youth as Pillars of Sustainable Peace (WYPSP)
Democratic Republic of the Congo
16 Caucus des Femmes Congolaise du Sud Kivu pour la Paix
Building women’s capacity and reactivating Caucus des
Femmes’ territory centres to improve local governance in
South Kivu
17 Dynamique Synergie des Femmes (DSF)
Community reconciliation in Fizi and Uvira territories
18 Réseau des femmes pour un développement associatif
(RFDA)
Peacebuilding and promotion of local governance on
Ruzizi plain
19 Solidarité des femmes de Fizi pour le bien-etre familial
(SOFIBEF)
Social reintegration of women and girls associated with
armed groups (WGAAG) in Fizi territory
Partner in all DRC projects
theories of change

CARE International UK
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89 albert embankment
london se1 7tP
tel: 020 7934 9334 fax: 020 7934 9335
website: www.careinternational.org.uk
email: [email protected]
registered charity number: 292506
Private company limited by guarantee number (england and
wales): 1911651
care international is one of the world’s leading aid agencies –
we fight poverty
and injustice. in the last year, we worked in 87 countries,
supporting 905
poverty-fighting projects that reached more than 82 million
people. care
international is non-religious and non-political, allowing us to
deliver
humanitarian and development assistance to anyone in need
regardless of race,
gender, ethnicity, age, religion or political view.
Cover image: © CARE/Kate Holt

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