F. Lessons from the Use of the MPICE Metrics Framework in the Haiti
Stabilization Initiative (Lesson #2503)
Observation.
The Peacekeeping & Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI), in collaboration with the U.S. Institute
of Peace (USIP) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), developed a metrics framework for
Measuring Progress in Conflict Environments (MPICE). While it has been used in Afghanistan,
Sudan, and Kosovo, the first major use of the framework was in Haiti via the Haiti Stabilization
Initiative in the slum Cité Soleil. For this initiative, the MPICE framework was effectively expanded
to include additional data collection methodologies for trend analyses; however, its utility was
negatively affected by several external environmental factors.
Discussion.
Cité Soleil is a poor and violent shantytown located in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. With a lack
of basic infrastructure and essential services such as sewers or electricity, this densely-populated slum
of 300,000 residents (primarily youth) is notorious for lawlessness and gang violence. By 2007, the
unrest in Cité Soleil threatened to destabilize the Haitian national government, were it not for the
presence of United Nations (UN) forces via the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).
Due to Cité Soleil’s instability, a U.S. Government interagency team, with assistance from the
Department of State (DOS)’s Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization, designed
a two-year project to boost stability in that volatile zone. The goal of this Haiti Stabilization Initiative
(HSI) was to improve security, local governance capacities/essential services, and economic
opportunities, in the hopes that increased stability in this zone would leave the doors open for other
U.S. and donor-funded programs to run the same assistance programs offered elsewhere in Haiti,
without increased risk. The specific programs of HSI included police training/professionalization,
sustainable employment programs, and strengthening local governance to render basic service
provision.
HSI was funded with $20 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) under Section 1207
authority from the 2006 National Defense Authorization Act. HSI was the first of such initiatives
funded under Section 1207. As such and for funding accountability, it was important to have a way
to assess and monitor the program to see if it was reaching its goals. After the HSI had been running
for 4-6 months, Logos Technologies joined under contract in order to measure the HSI’s progress. At
this point, PKSOI, USIP and USACE had already been developing a metrics framework for Measuring
Progress in Conflict Environments (MPICE). This framework needed a site for a trial run to test the
system. As such, a variant of the MPICE, co-developed by Logos Technologies, was used for
monitoring and evaluating HSI.
The basic framework of the MPICE is to measure indicators of progress in conflict environments in
five sectors (stable governance, safe environment, rule of law, sustainable economy, and social well-
being) in order to assess overall stability. The assumption and theory of change implicit in the MPICE
framework is that a reduction in drivers of conflict combined with an increase in local institutional
capacity will lead to stability. This can be illustrated by the following graphic. The point at which the
line of conflict driver reduction crosses the line of increasing institutional performance indicates the
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