The primary reason for measuring the cost-effectiveness of peacebuilding is to determine where best to allocate effort and money.
But measuring only effectiveness without considering cost can contribute to misallocation of resources.
Suppose one wants to train a large number of people in conflict resolution and has a choice between a one-week and a two-week program.
Let’s assume that one finds that trainees learn more from the two-week program. Does that mean one should choose it?
Not necessarily! If the trainees learned only 50% more in the two-week program and it costs twice as much per trainee, one might accomplish more by training twice as many people for just one week.
Information on effectiveness without considering cost can lead to misallocation of resources.
Cost-effectiveness is what really counts!