Rural Development Under Fire: The Role of Grassroots Support Organizations (OABs) in Situations of Political Violence in Peru

The Peruvian Support Organizations for Grassroots Groups (OAB) and foreign consultants have found no documentation on the role of development agencies in situations of political violence. There may be evaluations of OABs and centers that have remained as internal documents due to their sensitive nature. This work aims to address this gap, contributing to an evaluation of OABs, their local partners, funding bodies, and other stakeholders, and how they can fulfill their functions. Because Peru is under extreme social, political, and economic pressure, it offers an opportunity to examine its practices in the conception, planning, and implementation of rural development action programs. This situation calls for a rethinking of many assumptions that officials and experts take for granted. It is also my view that much of this questioning may be applicable to development programs in general.