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Issue 43 : Voices of capacity development
External aid can provide a significant boost to country-led processes. However, if external partners focus on the performance of their own aid, policies, approaches and knowledge, their support is more likely to hinder than support a country’s efforts. In this special issue published to coincide with the Fourth High Level Conference on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, Korea, Capacity.org invited a number of change agents in the South to speak about their experiences in leading change processes. The interviews cover a wide range of sectors and countries: achieving universal access to energy in South Africa, improved sanitation in Nepal, a more favourable business environment in Kenya, enforcing compliance with environmental laws in Zambia, and introducing active approaches to learning in Laotian schools.
Featured Article
Learning to evaluate capacity development: The making of 'Facilitating resourcefulness'
This article is a supplement to Issue 43 of
Capacity.org. It takes a look behind the scenes of an extensive evaluation of 26 case
studies covering the support to capacity development of seven Dutch Development Partners under the
coordination and partial responsibility of the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of
the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign affairs. The evaluation aimed to draw lessons on how to improve
the effectiveness of future capacity development interventions.
- Search Terms:
- analytical frameworks
- casestudies
All Articles
Evaluating capacity development
13 September 2011
Why evaluations seldom satisfy – could we do better?
As capacity development becomes mainstreamed in
international development assistance programmes, demand for the systematic evaluation of
capacity-development initiatives is growing. Doug Horton explains how the evaluation of capacity
development can be improved.
- Search Terms:
- analytical frameworks
Doug Horton
(Independent consultant on capacity development and evaluation)
Interview: Riding the green wave
13 September 2011
Elizabeth
Dipuo Peters, Minister of Energy, Republic of South Africa
South Africa’s path to universal energy access
South Africa is on track to achieve near-universal access to energy by 2015, a remarkable achievement given that 15 years ago, only 30% of the population had access to electricity. Minister Elizabeth Dipuo Peters, explains how they did it.
More- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- africa
- policy
- institutional development
- south-south cooperation
Interview: Changing the sanitation mindset
12 September 2011
Abadh Kishore Mishra, Regional director, Regional
Monitoring and Supervision Office of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage in Surkhet, Nepal
Water and sanitation in Nepal’s Midwestern Region
In the past, efforts to improve access to sanitation in Nepal’s Midwestern Development Region
were hampered by fragmentation and by the rigid mindset of some development agencies. This changed
when the country’s Regional Monitoring and Supervision Office at the Department of Water Supply and
Sewerage stepped in.
- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- asia
- policy
- rural development
Interview: A well respected voice
12 September 2011
Betty Maina, Executive director, Kenya
Association of Manufacturers
Fostering a beneficial business environment in Kenya
The Kenya Association of Manufacturers has tackled a very challenging political system to bring about a more favourable business environment.
More- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- private sector
- africa
Understanding capacity development from within
12 September 2011
The Capacity.org editorial board
Our message to Busan
This November, representatives from 91 countries will attend the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan. Here they will review global progress on improving the impact of development aid. Since the previous forums on aid effectiveness in Paris (2005) and Accra (2008), capacity development has featured prominently in efforts to achieve lasting results. Despite the progress that has undoubtedly been made, there is still a long way to go.
MoreInterview: Less teaching more learning
13 September 2011
Sombath Somphone, Director of the Participatory
Development Training Centre, Laos
Innovative education in Laos
PADETC, the Participatory Development Training Centre, introduces active approaches to learning
in Laos, where education is still based on a passive and traditional one-way-transfer of knowledge
from teacher to students.
- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- asia
- education
Interview: Caring into the future
12 September 2011
Paul Banda, Director of the Environment Council of
Zambia
Enforcing compliance with Zambia’s environment laws
Over the years, the Environmental Council of Zambia (ECZ) has developed its capacity to enforce environmental laws and advise the government on how to manage the country’s environment and natural resources.
More- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- africa
- institutional development
- policy
Guest Column: Avoid the failure trap
12 September 2011
Peter Malinga, Coordinator of technical
services at the Government of Rwanda Public Sector Capacity Building Secretariat (PSCBS)
Not all technical assistance is capacity-development support
Every year, members of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) contribute some $25 billion to developing countries, much of which is aimed at delivering what is increasingly being referred to as ‘capacity development’. However, many of these interventions do not demonstrate any clear evidence that they are having the desired impact.
More- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- policy
- africa
Lacor hospital’s approach to the vertical funding dilemma
12 September 2011
Letter to the editor
The topics ‘strengthening health systems’ and ‘vertical programming’ addressed in issue 42 of Capacity.org struck a chord with us at St Mary’s Hospital in Lacor, Northern Uganda. Lacor Hospital is a general referral hospital that focuses on diseases that are prevalent in the region it serves – mostly tropical and infectious diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis, intestinal parasites, etc.
More- Search Terms:
- casestudies
- africa
Learning to evaluate capacity development: The making of 'Facilitating resourcefulness'
30 November 2011
This article is a supplement to Issue 43 of
Capacity.org. It takes a look behind the scenes of an extensive evaluation of 26 case
studies covering the support to capacity development of seven Dutch Development Partners under the
coordination and partial responsibility of the Policy and Operations Evaluation Department (IOB) of
the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign affairs. The evaluation aimed to draw lessons on how to improve
the effectiveness of future capacity development interventions.
- Search Terms:
- analytical frameworks
- casestudies
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