The consequences of non-participatory planning: lessons from a livestock provision project to returnees in Eritrea

It argues that most of these problems would have been avoided had a participatory planning approach been adopted both in the country of asylum and origin. The planning process would have been greatly facilitated if the Commissioner's Office for Refugees (COR) and UNHCR in Sudan had collected data on the returnees' choice of destination, planned economic activities, including expected level of livestock dependency, occupational backgrounds, family labour availability and family size prior to their departure.

Most of the problems would also have been avoided if the agencies such as the Ministry of Agriculture and the Eritrean Rehabilitation and Refugee Commission had involved the returnees in the planning process. An important insight gained from this particular experience is that the role of outsiders, including governments, should be limited to increasing the options open to returnees and facilitating their choices, in order to enhance opportunities for construction of sustainable livelihoods in areas of return.