CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 122

THE UN “SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME” IN UNPA SECTOR WEST …
on UNPROFOR’s remaining in the Sector, while the Croatian government
rejected the UN mandate being extended.
The water supply system, which had not been functioning in the
region for more than three and a half years, was only restored in the summer
of 1995 through the efforts of CARE, financed by the “Office of U.S.
Foreign Disaster Assistance” after the Croats re-captured Western Slavonia
in the “Blitz attack”.
A partial restoration of the destroyed district hospital on the Croat side
was a current topic of negotiation of UNPROFOR. UNOV offered to
renovate the general medicine department and the maternity ward, provided
that Serb citizens would also have access to the hospital, but no agreement
was reached.
Observations regarding the methodology of project planning and
project management
The method initially applied was “Participatory observation”. Various
needs and problems were identified through informal and formal
conversations and discussed within the available social and administrative
structures.
The first planning phase of the “Social Reconstruction Programme”,
which international players approached with great idealism, was paired with
little experience in conflict transformation.
It soon became clear that no standardized pre-programmed approach
on how to deal with the conflict would apply. But it was generally assumed
that peace-building measures would only be successful through the gradual
and continual establishment of confidence-building measures.
In 1992, during the planning and implementation phase of most
projects, it was foreseen that assistance measures in conflict areas would
impact the conflict situation and dynamics. It was thought that negative
effects could be mitigated through so-called “Local Capacities for Peace” or
“Connectors”.
Individual projects were developed by sub-contracted NGOs together
with local and international experts. Local policy was driven by supra-
national interests. The legal framework was constantly changing. Therefore
it was vital for responses to be flexible. The entire structures of complex
projects had constantly to be adjusted, redesigned and newly planned.
Continual redesigning occurred throughout all phases of all projects, with the
result that the planning and timing of processes and contractual situations
often overlapped or did not converge. For the involved NGOs this caused
severe existential difficulties.
A fundamental problem became obvious already during one of the
first negotiation sessions, organized by UN Civil Affairs in 1992 on the
Croat side of Pakrac. UN Civil Affairs invited representatives of local
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