Challenges and strategies for implementers and evaluators working in conflict settings

Practitioners implementing and evaluating humanitarian programs in conflict zones face unique challenges requiring context-sensitive guidance. Conflict zones—geographical areas with militarized and non-militarized violence, widespread political instability, and state-sanctioned intimidation and genocidal violence—are rife with logistical, methodological, and ethical challenges that impact implementation and evaluation. Although challenges have been well-documented, few solutions or evaluation frameworks exist to help evaluators in conflict zones confront these challenges. This article examines how the application of implementation science frameworks, specifically, Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, offers useful strategies to mitigate some challenges in conducting evaluations in conflict zones. Areas for future research include collaborative team approaches to using these frameworks, ethical guidance, and reporting and dissemination.