Interim Evaluation
Condensed Executive Summary

The PRIA was made possible by an IFAD Technical Assistant Grant of USD 2.000.000 and a Technical Cooperation Grant of USD 150.000 contributed by the Andean Finance Corporation (CAF). At the beginning the operations were planned to start in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela.

PRIA started its operations in July 1992, with the institutional support of the CAF, through a Programme Administrative Unit (UAP). Up to May 31, 1997, PRIA has financed 75 projects: 37 in Bolivia, 17 in Brazil, 6 in Colombia, 1 in Ecuador, 2 in Peru, 5 in Venezuela and 8 at a regional level. USD 1.180.000 have been disbursed, out of USD 1.360.000, already committed. In addition to these funds, USD 460.000 were spent in the administration of the Programme. PRIA's activities will end in 1997, after approximately five years of operations.

The main purpose of the PRIA has been to support appropriate conditions and opportunities, necessary to the survival, the cultural defence and the strengthening of the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon basin. To achieve this aim, PRIA established the following specific objectives: 1) to strengthen the Indigenous organisations through co-financing pilot initiatives, promoting and developing these pilot experiences with the full participation of the Indigenous communities and Organisations; and 2) to formulate development projects for Indigenous communities.

The PRIA has been promoting: 1) the direct participation of Indigenous peoples during the different stages of the project cycle; 2) the direct allocation of funds to the Indigenous peoples, without the involvement of any intermediary Institution.

One of the most relevant achievement of the PRIA has been to show that it is possible to work directly with Indigenous peoples, without any need of intermediary institutions to administrate those funds. It is important to observe that in the majority of cases, the beneficiaries have shown the honesty that a cooperation of this kind requires, although it became clear that it is necessary to strengthen their capacities in accounting.

At the same time, it was observed that in the majority of the demands for productive projects, Indigenous peoples did not take sufficiently into account their own economic specificity and their traditional knowledge of resource management; on the contrary, they were searching to replicate the productive strategies which characterise the non-Indigenous populations with which they are in contact in each specific region.

Finally, the Programme has been very participatory: in all projects implemented at a local level, the Indigenous beneficiaries have been very active. The dimensions, the forms and the details of this feature are found from the stage of formulating the demands up to the accounting of the funds.

The Institutional mechanisms established by IFAD with CAF to execute the grant for this regional programme differs from other institutional arrangements found in the IFAD-CAF projects (which are not based on grants). After an initial process of adjustments, led by IFAD, an adequate adaptation to the needs of the PRIA was reached.

Although CAF did not have a specific experience in cooperating with Indigenous peoples, it was able to learn and to adapt itself to the specific features of the Programme, offering the PRIA an institutional support to implement it: 1) a regional institutional presence; 2) a support to the administration, provided at present without any charge for the administrative service; and 3) autonomy of Programme management and decision making. In fact, one of the important achievements of the PRIA has been to lead CAF to participate in a Programme focusing on Indigenous populations, allowing this Institution to start a learning process in working with those peoples.

The Programme has been managed in a flexible way, allowing for a continuous process of adaptation. However, the reduced administrative costs, in order to use as much as possible the available funds for implementing and executing projects, jeopardised the technical support. The UAP had to reduce its action in different aspects limiting the extent of project monitoring and concentrating the majority of projects in Bolivia (where PRIA's office is located).

Sharing responsibilities between the UAP and the communities in executing the Projects, increased commitment and ownership. The Indigenous peoples became in this way the administrators of the funds received and as such they are able to exert influence on their use, having also to account for the use of funds.

Although in general the relationship between the Programme and the Indigenous Organisations has been very good, an information strategy directed towards them about the potentialities of the Programme and about its activities has been lacking. A strengthening of the Indigenous Organisations took place much more at a grass-root level; the PRIA did not have much of impact on the Indigenous Organisations of second and third level (except in the case of the Organisation of Tikuna Teachers in Brazil).

Despite the overall positive performance of the TAG, there is significant room for improvement, particularly with respect to the monitoring and management of the programme. Some outputs of the learning process of this pioneering Programme should be part of an operational strategy for this kind of programmes: identification, technical and legal assistance, information, training, monitoring and following up; research systematisation of the data, evaluation; internal and external coordination. In the future the challenge will be to combine these elements in a strategy which should be adequately monitored (both thematically and spatially), including sufficient resources for this purpose.

The main contribution of the PRIA which puts it in a special position among the Programmes supporting Amazon Indigenous peoples is the implementation of a system of direct financing Indigenous initiatives within a regional perspective. The main area of specialisation of the PRIA could become a support to pre-investment (as the "Fondo Indígena" does) as well as to investment in productive sectors, promoting networks of microenterprises.

PRIA did not develop much in terms of project monitoring at a community level. The opposite is true, however, for many local agencies and NGOs. This fact leads to possible operative alliances with institutions which do monitor the projects as part of the processes in which they take part. In the future PRIA could make available to Indigenous peoples or Organisations some funds, allowing them to contract the services of these Institutions, both for technical assistance and for monitoring Project activities.

 On the Future of the PRIA

A first possibility is that of consolidating an Amazon Indigenous Fund, with a specific character. This could be also a regional programme which on the basis of previous experience, could establish a minimum-size internal coordinating structure. A sharp support strategy and a clear method of work (identification; technical and legal assistance; information; training; monitoring and follow-up; studies and researches; systematisation and evaluation; internal and external coordination; alliances and networking) should be the pillars of a new phase of the PRIA.

Such a re-definition of the programme does not imply a bureaucratic organisation, but only a very reduced one, with direct presence in the field.

The new phase of the PRIA should offer a more specialised service to the Indigenous peoples, putting a special emphasis in fields where IFAD has more experience, and with more technical assistance and training for the managing and execution of projects.

Another possibility would be to develop a support programme to Indigenous peoples, taking advantage of the existing set of IFAD Projects in the tropical lowland regions of Latin America. The programme could provide special support to some of these projects, focusing on their activities related to the Indigenous population, catalysing the "supply side" (the projects corresponding to the "demand side") and facilitating the networking of these projects. The shape and the contents of this support or integration would depend from the different conditions of each single project, in relation to its Indigenous target population; special assessments, where needed, would provide more emphasis or more specificity.

In the same way as for the first alternative, the PRIA would offer specialised services to the Indigenous peoples, complementing IFAD projects in tropical lowlands. The emphasis should be put on strengthening local Indigenous identities and group cohesion. Thus, a new phase of the PRIA would allow IFAD to consolidate its pioneer efforts in promoting rural poverty alleviation among the native indigenous population in Latin America.