Issue 43 of Capacity.org titled ‘Voices of Capacity Development’ published

[Wangu Mwangi]

We are pleased to announce the publication of Issue 43 of Capacity.org, titled ‘Voices of Capacity Development’. It aims to make a practical contribution to the upcoming 4^th High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan by sharing the perspectives of a broad range of Southern leaders on what constitutes true capacity development.

Through their diversity, the cases featured in Issue 43 convey a set of consistent messages and patterns:

• Capacity development begins at home, building on local or domestic dynamics, ambition, leadership and commitment.
• The starting point for local actors who drive capacity development efforts is to find ways to make meaningful contributions to positive social change rather than focusing on delivering the preset targets demanded by external partners.
• Drivers of capacity development are able to mobilise multi-actor engagement for change, which generates legitimacy and provides the basis for a viable revenue model. The WASH movement in Nepal is funded by resources of the central government, the local government and the commitment of hundreds of volunteers. The main source of income for the Kenya Association of Manufacturers is membership subscriptions and the fees it gets for services. The Environmental Council of Zambia earns most of its income from government budget allocation and licensing fees.
• The time it takes for capacity development to transform into better performance varies, and often does not correspond with a typical project cycle. Sometimes it may take more than ten years, while in other situations significant achievements can be realised in a much shorter time.

We have posted a short blog on the Capacity.org website, picking up on some of the issues explored in the lead article by Doug Horton on 'Evaluating Capacity Development' and posing the general question: “How can evaluations focused on learning be organised in a way that the learning is not compromised by accountability considerations?”We welcome your feedback on this and other issues raised in the current issue.

Please post a comment to the blog at this link:  http://www.capacity.org/capacity/opencms/en/blog/article_0015.html

Read Capacity.org online at: http://www.capacity.org/capacity/opencms/en/journal/issues/voices-o...

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Download the pdf version: CAP43_ENG_LR.pdf