By: Richard Paterson, Program Manager CARE Canada
Capacity Development refers to more than just the government sector - a plea for more attention to civil society
Clearly there is a desperate need to build and strengthen government's capacity; capacity to research and create effective policies, to develop
and manage government programs, and in general, to chart the development of their societies. In many of CIDA's 'countries of concentration', an
honest analysis would clearly reveal that government is unable to absorb and effectively manage the kinds of resource inflows that the international community is proposing, without significant resources and time for its capacity to grow.
Without getting into a lengthy discussion, it is my feeling however, that there needs to be more attention to the capacity building of civil society in developing countries. Civil Society plays a number of key roles in both developed and developing countries and 'capacity development' needs to encompass this fact, needs to encourage and strengthen civil society if we want to see fair and equitable development in these countries.
It was my understanding that the term 'capacity development' was adopted precisely because it was understood to be broader than 'capacity
building'. 'Capacity Development' encompassed more than bricks and mortar, and more than HRD. It includes development of appropriate policy
and regulatory environments, governance and accountability structures, appropriate systems, access to information, amongst others. By extension, then, a strong, responsible and engaged civil society has to be one of the aims of 'capacity development'. (As should a viable, vibrant private sector environment.) Good governance is inconceivable without a strong, independent civil society; CS is indispensable if rights are to be fully realized and defended; and it is acknowledged that engaging civil society is critical to ensuring that aid investments help meet the needs of the poorest and most marginalized people in society. If we truly want see local ownership of development, civil society must be able to participate fully and genuinely in the development of strategies, and the monitoring and review of programs. For this to happen, we all have to work and support local civil society capacity
development.
Richard Paterson, Program Manager CARE Canada. Tel. (613) 228-5660
Visit our website at www.care.ca
Useful reading:
Useful link:
- http://www.pdforum.org to the Participatory Development Forum, a membership-based organization dedicated to sharing information about development. The website includes a virtual library with documentation on a wide range of topics, including capacity building, which should be of interest. You'll need to register.
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