Building Resilience for Poverty Reduction among Disadvantaged and Marginalized Rural Populations

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Building Resilience for Poverty Reduction (BRPR) initiative in Sudan's West Darfur state. We evaluated project achievements based on six OECD/DAC criteria: relevance, effectiveness, coherence, efficiency, impact, and connectedness-sustainability. Data were collected from all stakeholders, including those directly impacted, the initiative's staff, partners, and pertinent government organizations. Where applicable, we divided the receivers by gender, age group, and special needs population. From January 2017 to December 2021, this analysis covers the entire project lifespan. Despite an unstable operating setting that included a change in administration, a difficult security scenario, growing inflation rates, and the depreciation of the national currency, the BRPR project remained relevant and well-designed. These achievements include the formation of village savings and loan organizations and village development groups, with an emphasis on women; the promotion of community participation; and the involvement of vulnerable families in project activities. This involvement appears to have had a positive influence on the project beneficiaries' livelihoods and resilience to future shocks, implying that affected communities have increased their ability to cope and become more robust. The results indicate that communities in the project's focus areas are keen to learn new skills. The results indicated that agricultural productivity improved while livestock mortality dropped. For instance, the community saw an increase in nutritional quality and the cessation of open defecation. All of this is due to the community's cultural acceptance of beneficial health habits.