In the mid-1970s, the Sultanate of Oman’s Dhofar Region was wracked by insurgents from Yemen who organized the local population to rebel against the government. After years of fighting, the rebels surrendered. Having won the war, attention then shifted to “winning the peace,” a tougher job. We were called in to help.
Terry Schmidt served as a consultant and advisor to His Excellency The Wali/Dhofar and other Omani officials responsible for developing a community infrastructure which would encourage people to settle down so that permanent villages could become established. At the time, much of the population was nomadic, and herdsmen were forced to constantly move their herds around in search of water. The government believed that by digging deep wells, and creating a year-round water source, people would settle down and stable communities would develop.
The government would also set up schools, health clinics, government offices, mosques, and markets. This new physical and institutional framework would produce a stable environment for social, economic, and political advancement. Over a six-week period, we guided teams in preparing a master Logical Framework which layed out a five year development strategy. Supporting plans were spun off the master plan for coordinated use by government ministries.
The program was successfully implemented and today Oman remains a moderate, progressive, pro-western Arab nation. This project provides a good example of how our Logical Framework approach can help teams to define and develop an ambitious and complex program. (The actual Logical Framework is located in the Resources section.)