Exiting Bosnia and Herzegovina and Beyond: Assessing UMCOR-NGO’s Past Experiences to Shape the Future

The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) NGO division has been providing development and relief assistance in transitional areas around the world since1993. Bosnia and Herzegovina represents UMCOR’s most extended and involved country mission to date, including a number of relief projects aimed at assisting the country in its recovery. UMCOR-NGO will phase-out its mission and exit the country in 2006. The Capstone team was asked to observe and to offer advice about how to learn from the exiting process, including an operating system of monitoring and evaluation, substantive long-term strategic planning, and possible roles for the organization in future post-conflict/disaster settings. Based on an analysis of program records and ten days of fieldwork in Bosnia, the team’s recommendations address the development of specific strategies for implementing an expanded system of monitoring and evaluation, and the adoption of more coherent, measurable, and attainable objectives in the early stages of project planning.