Context Matters: Innovating RBF for Security and Justice in DRC, Iraq and Sierra Leone In fragile contexts, the key to achieving meaningful progress toward peaceful, just and inclusive societies is establishment of functioning, legitimate institutions that can manage conflicts peacefully. The mainstream literature and policy discourse have converged around the proposition that rebuilding core governance functions in fragile contexts, especially provision of security and justice, improving public service delivery, and enhancing citizen engagement, is crucial to overcoming fragility in the long-term . At the same time, critical reflections on how conventional peace-building and state-building policies and interventions play out on the ground challenge, for example, the refusal to acknowledge hybrid political orders in fragile contexts , where an array of non-state actors exert authority; a counterproductive focus on the form, rather than actual function, of state and non-state institutions ; and the potential negative impact of external intervention on (re)building the social contract between citizens and state . 

Cordaid promotes more effective, responsive and inclusive security and justice provision through its security and justice programmes. Cordaid has pioneered an innovative approach to tackling the aforementioned challenges through applying a results-based financing (RBF) model to security and justice provision. The approach is characterised by using the train & equip elements of standard security and justice sector reform incentives to focus on accountability and constructive relations between state duty-bearers and citizens. Informed by successful utilisation of RBF in the health sector, Cordaid first introduced an RBF approach to security and justice (S&J) in 2011 in DR Congo. Subsequently, two projects were rolled-out: Restoring the Contract (2012-17) in Burundi and DRC, and CISPE (2017-  ) in DRC. 

In the course of implementing these initiatives, Cordaid has refined the RBF for S&J model, adapting to the needs of beneficiaries and feedback from external evaluations and donors, evolving toward an “RBF 2.0” that is fit-for-purpose in the existing context. Adaptations integrated into the latest iteration of RBF for S&J include separation of quantitative and qualitative (i.e. process-oriented) indicators to clarify targets for beneficiaries, inclusion of lower-level governance actors and civil society organisations in RBF, and splitting the community verification process into an end-user verification and a broader community questionnaire (to reach people who did not use RBF-associated services). Most of these changes are related to better include local community representatives (women, youth, local business associations, etc.) in the RBF process and promote accountability. 

The proven success of Cordaid RBF for S&J programming in Burundi and DRC calls for adaptation and scaling-out of this approach globally. To do so, assessment is needed of how Cordaid interventions in DRC impact the local political economy, that is, power relations between local political actors, formal and informal, who have a central role in security and justice provision, and between citizens (especially women, youth and marginalised groups) and power-holders. Action research will test the proposition that changes between RBF for S&J 1.0 and 2.0 have led improvements not only in the quality and quantity of services, but also the relations between service providers and local communities (that is, the social contract); and between traditional authorities (who have both formal and informal roles) and civil society organisations. Such a learning process will address the need for a more context-specific, flexible model which grapples with the local reality on the ground and the role of non-state actors. It will also grow the evidence base for the effects of what is a relatively expensive and labour-intensive alternative to other policies and interventions that address fragility.

Integrating knowledge generated through action research in DRC, new models of RBF for S&J must be tested in diverse fragile contexts to better understand how political, social and other variables alter intervention effects, and nurture innovation. These lessons drawn from action research in DRC and adaptation to new test sites in Iraq and Sierra Leone will enable Cordaid to understand how RBF for S&J interacts with the hybrid political arena, and its impact on local dynamics between citizens (especially women, youth and marginalised groups), state institutions, and the informal sphere (insights of value to Cordaid RBF programmes in other domains); and generate a track record facilitating broad expansion of RBF for S&J interventions. The project sustains technical expertise and accompaniment from GO the RBF pilot projects in Sierra Leone and Iraq in 2019 (200724 and 200725) with the aim to improve the service delivery of the police in Sierra Leone (in targeted districts) and in Erbil (Iraq). Direct: state security and justice providers (police, prosecutors, judges, penal workers), relevant local officials with an executive or oversight function, citizens seeking access to security and justice provision (especially women and youth), civil society representatives; 

indirect: citizens and communities at test sites