The Show Must Go On: Adaptive Management at the Heart of ACCELERE!1

• In Event: Learning and adaptability in permanently unstable environments: getting to improved education outcomes in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Proposal

Building on USAID’s definition of adaptive management which states “USAID’s work takes place in environments that are often unstable and in transition. ….. circumstances evolve and may affect programming in unpredictable ways (USAID LearnLab)”, this presentation will show how ACCELERE!1 project activities were adapted due to contextual challenges and permanent instability. We will describe how the project changed course and adapted due to the Ebola outbreak in Mbandaka, Equateur, in April of 2018. And yet in spite of the Ebola outbreak, project staff and consultants were still able to complete a defining socio-linguistic study that has informed the development of teaching and learning materials and will be of significant importance to better customize materials given significant differences between rural and urban knowledge of Lingala.

In 2017, the ACCELERE!1 project was confronted with unexpected militia violence in the Kasais. The Kasai Provinces, a previously impoverished but stable region, experienced severe security and humanitarian crises due to militia violence. The anti-government militia known as the Kamuina Nsapu ravaged the region in Spring of 2017. Violent ethnic and tribal conflicts broke out just a few days before the 2016-2017 school year and attacked and burned down villages and project target schools. The second part of this presentation will describe how project leadership put in contingency plans and how it adapted program activities based on Rapid Education Risk Analysis to address needs of deeply traumatized population, gender-based violence, and violence inside and outside of schools.

Author

• Sonia Arias, Chemonics International