1st Asia Pacific mediation leadership summit: From talk to action

May 2011
Dates: 2-4 December 2011 Type of event: Conference Location: Bangkok, Thailand Organization: Asia Pacific Mediation Forum The aim of the conference is to engage a range of experienced academics, mediators, conflict transformation and peacebuilding practitioners from different cultural, organizational and professional backgrounds who are culturally fluent, creative and innovative, and want to contribute (and build on) their knowledge and expertise and proactively evolve the way that conflicts are mediated, transformed and built in the Asia-Pacific region. More

Scaling up climate information services for smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia

April 2013
This white paper summarizes the lessons learnt from across cases, projects and research experiments in effectively developing and providing climate information and advisory services for smallholder farmers. The case studies were presented at an international workshop in Senegal in December 2012, co-organized by CGIAR's Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and its partners. The workshop discussions focused on two projects that are attempting to reaching farmers at scale: Integrated Agrometeorological Advisory Services (IAAS) in India (which recently announced in 2012 plans to scale up to 10-12 million farmers) and Mali’s Projet d’A ssistance Agrometeorologique au Monde Rural (which has provided innovative services to farmers since 1982). More

Maintaining effective micro-macro linkages

June 2010
Rajesh Tandon claims that donor harmonisation is making his work more difficult. For his organisation, Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA), it means fewer resources and less influence internationally. Tandon has therefore reassessed his priorities and has decided to take his ideas elsewhere. As he explains to Evelijne Bruning, he is now focusing on those people he can reach – and there are millions of them. More

Inter-organisational learning and local governance

January 2013
Devolving power for the poor Devolution of power to local government changed the rules of the game in decision making and created new opportunities. The Society for Participatory Research in Asia facilitated a nationwide inter-organisational learning process in order to make the new system work for the marginalised. More

Effective behaviour through genuine interactions

October 2010
By ‘de-tooling’ interactions, focusing on intentions and reflecting on their behaviour and its outcomes, facilitators can strengthen their own capacities to help communities address the many challenges they face. More

NGO/Capacity Builder - AsiaDHRRA

November 2010
Founded in 1974, the AsiaDHRRA is a regional partnership of 12 social development organisations and networks from 11 differrent countries. It provides opportunities for rural leaders, both farmers and development workers to enhance their skills, knowledge and attitudes so that they can be effective visionaries, network builders and advocates. AsiaDHRRA runs a leadership development programme, and also offers a one-year on-the-job training programme for follow up. More

Gender inclusive approaches in agricultural value chains

December 2012
Published in November 2012 by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, this practice brief explores women and gender issues in agricultural value chains in Africa and Asia. Across the two continents there are wide disparities in women’s access to and control over productive resources, service delivery and market opportunities. Drawing on a wide variety of case studies, the Brief describes various ways in which the underlying gender constraints are identified and addressed, through an explicit focus on women’s economic and social empowerment. More

Upgrading in rural value chains

February 2013
This book explores the place of poor people within a rich variety of value chains, focusing upon lagging, rural regions in Africa and Asia, and how they can “upgrade” within such chains. Upgrading is a key concept for value chain analysis and refers to the acquisition of technological capabilities and market linkages that enable firms to improve their competitiveness and move into higher-value activities. More

Strengthening rural livelihoods with ICTs

August 2011
Enthusiasm amongst international development agencies about harnessing the potential of Information and communications technologies (ICTs) for development has waned as observers have recently questioned the impact and sustainability of such interventions. By presenting the findings of research specifically designed to measure impact on livelihoods, this publication offers new evidence for the development benefits of ICTs. More

Using (South-South) knowledge exchange for capacity development: What works in global practice?

January 2012
While knowledge exchange, especially between countries facing comparable challenges, is widely recognised as a tool for facilitating development innovation, there has been little empirical work to assess the effectiveness of such programmes with a view to informing global practice. This joint study by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and World Bank Institute (WBI) assessed three of their South-South knowledge exchange programmes in Asia, Africa and Latin America. More

Applications invited for new round of South-South learning alliances

November 2012
Practical Action has launched the second round of south-south learning alliances, starting January 2013. The four-month online learning programme fosters networking between policymakers and practitioners in Latin American, African and South Asia as part of the Evidence and Lessons from Latin America (ELLA) knowledge platform. The programme will include a visit to Latin America for selected active members from Africa and South Asia. The learning programme will focus on the following topics: Small-scale farming: prmoting small-scale sustainable farming and rural development (application deadline: 7 December 2012) Human rights: promoting, protecting, defending and guaranteeing human rights (application deadline: 30 November 2012) Climate resilient cities: making cities more resilient to climate change (application deadline: 7 December 2012) Participation is free of charge and members are expected to devote about one to two hours per week to the learning programme. For more information please visit: ella.practicalaction.org More

From token inclusion to transformative engagement

December 2010
Urban planning in India Although labelled ‘participatory’, many urban planning processes in India involve only select elite groups. This article explains what is required to achieve genuine participation involving all stakeholders, including the poor and the marginalised. More

Resource mobilization: A practical guide for research and community-based organizations

January 2012
Donor scoping studies commissioned by IDRC in 2004 and 2008 showed that multilateral and bilateral agencies are now more focused on large-scale, sector-wide funding, awarding bigger grants to fewer organizations, with less money available for medium to small groups. The second edition of this guidebook, co-pubished by IDRC’s Donor Partnership Division and the Philippines-based Venture for Fundraising in 2010, pays specific attention to the resource mobilization needs of community-based development research organizations, contained within their South and Southeast Asian contexts. More

Capacity.org issue 46 on inter-organisational learning published

January 2013
From picking up a good idea from a competitor to engaging in strategic alliances, there is a wide spectrum of ways in which inter-organisational learning occurs. However, unlike the private sector inter-organisational learning in the development sector is hardly studied or evaluated. There seems to be an uncritical assumption that working and learning together is unproblematic and usually beneficial for all parties. Drawing on practical experiences from India, South Sudan and South Africa, among others, this issue of Capacity.org journal discusses a number of challenges faced by learning partnerships and offers lessons for avoiding some of the commonly experienced pitfalls. More

Capacity for conservation

October 2010
For IUCN – the World Conservation Union, building capacity for conservation is more important than simply building staff capacity for itself. Jeffrey McNeely traces the development of the regional programme IUCN in Asia. More

NGO/Capacity Builder - SNV

November 2010
SNV-Netherlands Development Organisation is an international development organization that provides advisory services to nearly 1800 local organizations in over 30 developing countries to support their fight against poverty. SNV is currently active in Asia, Africa, the Balkans, and Latin America. More

The importance of public awareness

October 2010
The developed country model for building capacity in water supply, sanitation and hygiene is inadequate for Asia, Africa and Latin America. Developing countries require a different approach. More

Strengthening country procurement sytems in Bangladesh: 2 case studies

July 2010
At the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in September 2008, donors agreed to use country systems as the first option for aid programmes in support of activities managed by the public sector. These two UNDP case studies describe how this works in practice in Bangladesh. The first case study: 'Towards use of country systems for procurement in Bangladesh', analyses the challenges of assessing capacity at the national level as a first step towards aligning national procurement systems. The second study highlights a promising community-level initiative to enhance local monitoring of Millenium Development Goal-related project procurement. More

Building trust, changing behaviour

October 2010
Building trust between facilitators and learners is essential in capacity development. Leng Chhay, a CD practitioner with many years of experience in Cambodia, looks at how this trust can be established. More

To Know is to be empowered

October 2010
To Know is to be empowered If you want to effectively tackle gender inequality, you need to be able to measure it and identify its underlying causes. Putting local governments in the know is half the battle. More

Case study: Diabetes, Cambodia's silent killer

May 2011
Accessible care for diabetes in Cambodia In Cambodia, diabetes is a devastating disease. Expensive clinical care is accessible only to the urban rich, while the poor remain untreated and die. The Cambodian organisation, MoPoTsyo, has an innovative solution that has already saved many lives. More

Interview: Less teaching more learning

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. More

Working with stakeholder dialogues

May 2011
Dates: 28th June - 1st July, 2011(Postdam, Germany) and 27th to 30th September, 2011 (Siem Reap, Cambodia) Type of event: Training course Organizer: Collective Learning Institute This is a skills development program for those who host, initiate and facilitate stakeholder engagement processes. More

Women Leading Change: Experiences promoting women's empowerment, leadership, and gender justice

April 2012
Published in March 2012, this publication features, four case studies describing experiences from Cambodia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Indonesia in promoting women's political and economic empowerment and leadership. The case studies describe the context in which women live, what leadership means and how to achieve it. Attention is given to working within existing institutions and cultural norms, and also to creating new institutions. The final section summarizes common lessons and considerations for future policy and practice aiming to promote women's empowerment and leadership. More

Towards universal health coverage in Cambodia

August 2012
There is widespread support in Cambodia for greater integration of demand-side health financing schemes for the poor and the informal sector to improve access to health care and reduce the burden of health expenditure. Operation of these schemes by government, donor bodies and various international and local non-government organisations has resulted in a fragmented system with high overhead costs, high monitoring and evaluation costs and complex reporting requirements. Institutional and operational barriers to strengthening universal coverage in Cambodia: options for policy development, a Working Paper published by the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne, identifies institutional and health financing design barriers to establishing a national agency, as well as policy solutions. More

Towards universal health coverage in Cambodia

August 2012
Ensuring equity and affordable access to health care for all without incurring catastrophic financial consequences—universal health care coverage— has been identified as a key health policy goal (WHO 2010). By strengthening financial protection through addressing the three main health financing functions— revenue collection, pooling of resources and purchasing of services—all countries can move towards universal coverage. A new Working Paper from the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne identifies institutional and health financing design barriers to establishing a national agency, as well as policy solutions. More

Parliamentary outreach and advocacy in India

November 2010
CUTS is a civil society organization that strives to influence national policies in the areas of international trade, competition, consumer protection and economic regulation. More

Responding to the tsunami

October 2010
The Asian tsunami of December 2004 provided an opportunity to explore innovative approaches to improve service delivery. Arun Kashyap describes how a public–private partnership has assisted communities across the region to build better water and sanitation systems. More

Legitimacy enhances capacity

November 2010
Legitimacy enhances capacity Do affirmative action and training of women politicians lead to effective voice and change on issues that are relevant for women? More

The role of ICTs in empowering rural Indian women

April 2011
This paper reviews a range of initiatives to bridge the digital gap in India, exploring in particular the role of ICTs in empowering Indian rural women. The paper concludes that, while most of the ICT initiatives are disseminating useful new information and knowledge, many women are not able to make use of it due to lack of access to complementary sources of support and services. More

Rebuilding local governance structures in Afghanistan – a long walk

April 2011
This case study on efforts to build sub-national governance institutions in Afghanistan illustrates the challenges of implementing decentralization programmes in a post-conflict setting. The focus of the UNDP-supported National Area-Based Development Programme (NABDP) is to transform informal local Shuras (committees) into Community Development Councils and higher-level District Development Assemblies (DDAs). The reality, however, is that the newly elected local representatives face an uphill battle to achieve widespread acceptance as legitimate interlocutors of local development. More

Interview: Changing the sanitation mindset

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. More

Local governance self assessment: guidelines for facilitators

November 2010
This local governance self-assessment tool for community facilitators is based on experiences in Bangladesh. More

Capacity building specialist, Myanmar

November 2012
Contracting organization: Save the Children Location: Yangon, Myanmar Application deadline: 20 November 2012 Type/duration of assignment: Programme Staff, 4 years More information: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/jobs/detail.dot?id=a661fa3d-e431-482a-b6ad-63f949dc2a4e Save the Children International is looking for a Capacity Building Specialist to join the Myanmar Education Consortium (MEC) team. The Myanmar Education Consortium is a national programme designed in view of the rapidly evolving changes occurring in the education sector and the overall country context. It is initially led by Burnet Institute, Save the Children and World Vision with the aim to build capacity and involve local partners over the course of the programme. The MEC Capacity Building Specialist will be responsible for coordinating with local implementing partners including complementary systems and local civil society groups to build capacity of education institutions and personnel for improved education management (i.e. financial management, human resources, organisational development), knowledge of education current theory and best practice and enhanced service delivery. More

Citizen report cards score in India

October 2010
Monitoring public service delivery After more than a decade of monitoring by civil society organizations, the city of Bangalore in southern India has made progress in improving the quality and cost-effectiveness of its public services. More

Contextual forces

October 2010
Causal loop diagrams can show the many factors that contribute to a problem, and how they link together. By understanding the broader context, organisations can identify what is within and what is beyond their ability to change. More

Perverse governance: State incapacity by design in Bihar, India

August 2011
Poor governance is often attributed to historical and structural factors that are difficult to change: “it is there because it is there, or because of a legacy of pathologies like colonial rule and an unnatural degree of socio-linguistic diversity." IDS Working Paper 366 (May 2011) by Santhosh Mathew and Mick Moore explores the role of individual agency and the incentives and opportunities that powerful political insiders may face to weaken state capacity in their own interests. It focuses on governance practices during the tenure of Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, from 1990 to 2005. More

Case study: Mainstreaming gender in local governance processes in Afghanistan

September 2011
To minimize gap between the Community Development Councils and Provincial Government Organizations, Afghanistan’s National Area-Based Development Programme (NABDA) started to establish District Development Assemblies (DDAs) in 2006. This case study describes the process used to mainstream gender in these local governance processes and some of the concrete results achieved so far. More

The dynamics of change

December 2010
Dealing with power – the key to successful MSPs? For over ten years, Wageningen UR Centre for Development Innovation (CDI) has been offering capacity development programmes to support the practitioners of multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs). One of the most important functions of these programmes is to prepare facilitators to work with power and conflict in order to bring about successful outcomes. More

Building competitiveness in Africa's agriculture: a guide to value chain concepts and applications

August 2011
Using real examples, mostly from African countries, this book reviews and illustrates a range of concepts, analytical tools, and methodologies centered on the value chain that can be used to design, implement, and evaluate agricultural and agribusiness development initiatives that strive to enhance productivity and competitiveness. More

Capacity, complexity and consulting: lessons from managing capacity development projects

March 2012
In recent years, the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) programme of the UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) has increasingly focused on managing large, multiyear processes, aimed at building the capacity of local institutions in developing countries to change the way they engage with policy. This paper draws on the observations of RAPID staff involved in various projects as well as on primary documentation such as trip reports, after action reviews and project reports. It also includes a ‘ light-touch’ review of some of the grey and academic literature available on capacity development, complexity, managing social change and aid agency behaviour. More

What future for Vietnamese bamboo?

March 2012
Government intervention – essential for an enabling environment In eastern China, thousands of smallholders generate substantial incomes from bamboo. But across the border in Vietnam where conditions are, if anything, more favourable, smallholders are moving out of bamboo. An opportunity will go to waste here unless local authorities take the initiative. More

Bringing climate models to Indian communities

June 2012
A first in the field Seva Mandir, a non-governmental voluntary organisation working in Rajasthan, India joined hands with ICCO and scientists from the Dutch institute Alterra to find out what climate change impacts lie in store for the region. More

Receding rains in Rayalaseema

June 2012
Small farmers overstretched Over the last three decades, the people of the Rayalaseema region have witnessed a changing climate that has stretched their ability to adapt beyond limits. More

Dilemmas of inter-organisational learning

January 2013
Editorial Organisations can learn from each other, and they can learn together. There is a wide spectrum of ways in which inter-organisational learning (IOL) occurs, ranging from picking up a good idea from a competitor to engaging in strategic alliances. Inter-organisational learning is not only practiced in the private sector but also widely practised in the development sector. However, unlike the private sector IOL in the development sector is hardly studied or evaluated. There seems to be an uncritical assumption that organisations working and learning together is unproblematic and usually beneficial for all parties. More

Mainstreaming climate change into community development processes

April 2013
Drawing on a district-level planning process in Thailand that aimed to mainstream climate change into local development plans, the authors of this paper argue that the current process of ‘ predict-then-act’ climate change adaptation is inherently flawed. The uncertain nature of climate change predictions can lead to dilemmas in selecting proper measures, whilst the long timeframes involved hinders investment and distances stakeholders’ priorities. Furthermore, this sequential process often overlooks the role of socioeconomic dynamics in changing countries' risk profiles over time. More

Strengthening local accountabilities in fragile contexts: Lessons from Nepal, Bangladesh and Mozambique

June 2013
IDS Working Paper 422 (April 2013) explores societal dynamics in fragile contexts and the role that external partners can play in strengthening domestic accountability through giving local project participants opportunities to "practise democracy." More

Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation: PRIA Global Partnership newsletter, Vol. 1, Issue 4

March 2012
The October 2011 issue of PRIA's Global Partnership newsletter contains a selection of papers that were presented and discussed in the International Conference on Monitoring and Evaluation: New Developments and Challenges, jointly organized by INTRAC, PSO and PRIA held on 14-16 June 2011 in the Netherlands. More

UNDP Primer on Capacity Development for Human Rights Institutions

November 2010
Prepared by the Capacity Building Team at the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre Bangkok, this paper discusses the application of UNDP's capacity assessment approach in the human rights sector. More

How to design, manage and conduct impact evaluations

January 2012
Dates: 6 -16 March 2012 Type of event: Training course (NB: Full and partial scholarships are available to participants from East Asia) Location: Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Centre, Shanghai, China Organization: CLEAR This course will cover commonly used econometric and statistical methods to evaluate the impacts of social and other programmes in developing countries. The focus is on learning how to perform ex-post evaluations, that is, evaluations of programmes that have been implemented, where some group of individuals (the treatment group) has been exposed to the programme and some other group (the comparison or control group) has not. The course will cover both randomized and non-randomized methods. More

Interactive seminar series: Learning from mega disasters

March 2012
Dates: 18 April - 11 May 2012 (NB: Registration deadline is 11 April 2012) Type of event: Video conference series (6 sessions) with live webcasts Location: Various (region-based) + Online Organization: Global Development Learning Network(GDLN) More information on themes and target countries: http://www.jointokyo.org/en/programs/catalogue/mega_disasters/ This video conference series is organized as part of a Government of Japan/World Bank programme “ Learning from Mega Disasters: Program of Knowledge Sharing and Knowledge Exchange,” launched in October 2011. The project has developed 33 Knowledge Notes so far, which will be grouped into 6 clusters for the GDLN knowledge-exchange sessions. The objectives of the KS sessions are to: (i) share initial findings and lessons from the Great East Japan Earthquake with practitioners throughout the world, and (ii) exchange views among experts on how these lessons could be transferred and adapted to developing countries. More

Knowledge to policy: Making the most of development research

November 2010
Does research influence public policy and decision-making and, if so, how? Published in 2009, this book analyses the outcomes of 23 research projects funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre in Asia, Africa and Latin America to understand the effects of research in the field of international development. Written in a reader-friendly, journalistic style, the analysis gives the reader a deeper grasp and understanding of approaches, contexts, relationships, and events. test More

The role of ICTs in bridging the agricultural extension gap in africa

February 2013
This UNDP-commissioned paper for the African Human Development Report looks at the evidence on the role of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the agricultural sector in Africa with lessons from Asia. It explores issues of farmers’ access to information and other services that would help improve agricultural productivity, practices, and farmer livelihoods. It also reviews available literature on the effect of existing ICTs in extension services, and assesses impediments for better application of the technology for extension and advisory services. More

IRC Post-Conflict Development Initiative

November 2010
The International Rescue Committee's Post-Conflict Development Initiative ({CDI) was created in 2002 to support conflict-impacted communities and countries in their transition to sustainable peace and development. More

NGO/Capacity Builder - Women's Learning Partnership

November 2010
The Women's Learning Partnership (WLP) is a builder of networks, working with 18 autonomous and independent partner organizations in the Global South, particularly in Muslim-majority societies, to empower women to transform their families, communities, and societies. More

Local capacity development case studies

November 2010
Local capacity development case studies SNV-Netherlands Development Organisation has documented a large number of case studies on experiences in building community capacity across a range of development sectors. More

ECB interactive learning series

October 2011
Dates: Various, November 2011 to February 2012 Type of event: Online conference series Location: Global Organization: Emergency Capacity Building Project (ECB) ECB inter-active is a series of five regional events in Africa, Asia and South America that will share ECB Project learning for the first time across the humanitarian sector. The aim is to share experiences of capacity building and understand more about the ECB Project's innovative approaches for successful collaboration and joint action. Participants will be drawn from government, UN, humanitarian networks, NGOs, donors, and inter-governmental agencies. Each event will include a series of inter-active learning opportunities focused on the core themes of National Staff Capacity Building, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Accountability to beneficiaries. More

Impact Evaluation Conference 2011: Follow live conference updates

June 2011
Dates: 15-17 June 2011 Type of event: Conference Location: Cuernavaca, Mexico Organization: 3iE The 2011 impact evaluation conference 'Mind the gap: From evidence to policy impact' will bring together over 400 policymakers, practitioners and researchers from Latin America, Africa and Asia, to take stock of what we have learned from evaluations and the way forward for adopting new approaches.The conference will highlight cases from across the world where impact evaluations have provided evidence to scale up or modify existing development programmes. The conference offers a unique learning space to share ideas and be part of current debates on impact evaluations. All are welcome to participate by following live updates and commenting on the live blogs. More

Monitoring & Evaluation Regional Specialist, PATH

March 2012
Contracting organization: PATH Location: New Delhi, India Application Deadline: Unspecified Type/duration of assignment: Staff position More information: http://hostedjobs.openhire.com/epostings/submit.cfm?fuseaction=app.welcome&category_id=24936&company_id=15780&version=1&startflag=2&parent=Asia%3B%3B%3BPublic%20Health&levelid2=24936 PATH (http://www.path.org/) is seeking a Monitoring & Evaluation Regional Specialist to further the M&E Department’s goal of strengthening Monitoring & Evaluation capacity to measure and learn from results across PATH’s global and field programs. The M&E Regional Specialist will work with the M&E Department to design and provide capacity building opportunities through formal workshops and existing work opportunities to improve the knowledge base and regional capacity to use proven M&E practices and approaches. More

Call for Expression of Interest: Mid-Term evaluation of Saferworld/DFID Programme Partnership Agreement

June 2012
Contracting organization: Saferworld Location: UK, with some possible travel to the Caucasus or Central Asia Application deadline: 28 June 2012 Type/duration of assignment: See ToRs More information: http://www.saferworld.org.uk/about/jobs Saferworld is an independent non-governmental organisation that works to prevent and reduce violent conflict and promote cooperative approaches to security. We work with civil society, governments and international organisations to encourage and support effective policies and practices through advocacy, research and policy development, and through supporting the development of local capacities and structures. Saferworld is seeking evaluators to conduct a mid-term Independent Progress Review of work and results enabled through its Programme Partnership Agreement with DFID's Conflict, Humanitarian and Security Department. More

Upcoming training courses in East Africa (MDF)

January 2013
MDF is a global training and consultancy agency, headquartered in the Netherlands with branches in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The MDF Eastern and Southern Africa office is organizing the following courses in the first half of 2013. Please note that course fees apply Organisational development and change: 11-15 February, Arusha, Tanzania Result-based management: 11-15 March, Arusha, Tanzania Monitoring & Evaluation and Learning: 18-22 March, Arusha, Tanzania Programme Planning form a Livelihood Perspective: 1-5 April 2013, Nairobi, Kenya Outcome mapping: 15-17 April 2013, Arusha, Tanzania Financial management for non-financial managers: 5-10 May, Arusha, Tanzania Leadership and people management: 13-17 May, Arusha, Tanzania Project and programme management: 10-21 June, Arusha, Tanzania For more information and a full overview of all courses offered in 2013, please visit the MDF-ESA website. More

Combining local knowledge and global science: A practical guide

November 2010
This practical guide developed by DFID’s Research Into Use programme draws on practical experience in Nepal to show how the combination of external and local knowledge helps improve the lives of small-scale farmers by producing practical solutions suited to their needs. More

INTRAC, PSO & PRIA 7th Evaluation Conference Monitoring and evaluation: new developments and challenges

May 2011
Dates: 14-16 June 2011 Type of event: conference Location: The Netherlands Organizer: INTRAC, PSO and PRIAs This international conference will examine key elements and challenges confronting the evaluation of international development, including its funding, practice and future. The main themes will include: governance and accountability; impact; M&E in complex contexts of social change; the M&E of advocacy; M&E of capacity building; programme evaluation in an era of results-based management; M&E of humanitarian programmes; the design of M&E systems; evaluating networks, including community driven networks; changing theories of change and how this relates to M&E methods and approaches. More

Capacity.org Issue 45 on adapting to climate change published

June 2012
Agricultural smallholders and pastoralists whose livelihoods depend on natural resource bases that are already severely stressed and degraded are among the groups most affected by the unpredictable impacts of climate change. Drawing on experience in Asia and Africa, the June 2012 issue of Capacity.org journal provides some insights for practitioners on how to effectively meet the needs of the most vulnerable communities. The contributions aim to shed light on two broad questions: 1. Adaptation to what? The global effects of climate change may be clear in terms of increase in temperature and rising sea levels but the local effects are far less predictable to the extent that some regions may even benefit from the consequences of climate change. What are some reliable sources for communities find out the types of changes they can expect? 2. Which factors determine a community’s adaptation capacity how can actors including local governments and NGOs intervene to enhance the resilience of local communities to the effects of climate change? Read the issue online Download Issue 45 (PDF, 700 kb) More

New research project to promote evidence-based policymaking in agriculture and trade

November 2010
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Webinar series: Increasing the effectiveness of networks working on global public challenges (iScale)

March 2012
Dates: Various: between 28 March and 6 April 2012 Type of event: Webinar Location: Online/Global (sessions organised by timezone) Organization: Innovations for Scaling Impact (iScale) More information: www.scalingimpact.net/content/iscale-webinar-increasing-effectiveness-networks Since 2008, iScale, has implemented an IDRC-supported project examining the role of multi-stakeholder networks as agents of change in addressing global challenges that has resulted in the development of frameworks that can help networks scale impact by understanding what to measure, for what purpose, when, and how, through the use of approaches that integrate planning, assessment, reporting, and learning. Beginning in late March 2012, iScale will host webinars to discuss this work on how networks working on global public challenges can increase their effectiveness and scale impact. The webinars will be offered in two formats: a condensed session lasting 1.5 hours and an in-depth session lasting approximately 2.5-3 hours. Each session will be conducted three times and in three time zones in an effort to accommodate interested participants from all over the world. More

Children in emergencies: improving response programmes

November 2010
This INTRAC practice note discusses a capacity building initiative to create a global register of skilled staff available for deployment to emergency situations worldwide. More

Initiative for Peacebuilding

November 2010
The Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP) brings together the complementary geographic and thematic expertise of 10 civil society organizations (and their networks) with offices across the EU and in conflict-affected countries. IfP partners work to develop and promote international knowledge and expertise in the field of conflict prevention of peacebuilding. More

The Initiative for Peacebuilding

November 2010
The Initiative for Peacebuilding (IfP) is an online resource for knowledge and expertise on conflict prevention and peacebuilding, targetting both practitioners and policymakers. More

Policy Matters

November 2010
Global Development Network initiatives to shape global policy debates and bridge research and policy consultations. More

Review of Impact and Effectiveness of Transparency and Accountability Initiatives, Institute of Development Studies (2010)

January 2011
As traditional forms of state-led accountability have been increasingly found to be inadequate, thousands of multi-stakeholder and citizen-led approaches have come to the fore, to supplement or supplant them. Despite their rapid growth, and the growing donor support they receive, little attention has been paid to the impact and effectiveness of these new transparency and accountability initiatives. Responding to this gap, this report, based on a review of literature and experience across the field with special focus on five sectors of transparency and accountability work, aims to improve understanding among policy-makers and practitioners of the available evidence and identify gaps in knowledge to inform a longer-term research agenda. More

Capacity building programme in community-driven development, India

November 2012
Dates: 7-31 January 2013 Type of event: Training with field exposure (please note that this is a paid course) Location: Andhra Pradesh, India Organization: Bala Vikasa People Development Training Center More information: http:www.balavikasa.org Bala Vikasa's four-week " Capacity Building Program with Field Exposure in Community Driven Development” covers the theory and practice of making developmental interventions more inclusive, effective, efficient and sustainable. The course is designed to deepen participants' understanding of community development concepts and familiarize them with various approaches and tools that can be applied in the process of empowering the community. More

Evaluation and civil society

February 2013
Evaluation provides an avenue for challenging and changing development practices which do not adequately serve the needs, rights and aspirations of all. This publication aims to contribute to the international discussions on how different stakeholders can create synergies and partnerships to contribute to equity-focused and gender-responsive country-led evaluation systems. It is the first volume of a proposed series of publications on Evaluation and Civil Society. More

Evidence-based policies

October 2010
It is common to think that academic researchers and aid practitioners cannot communicate because they live in different worlds. The former are said to be concerned with formulating theories regardless of the complexities and contradictions of the evidence, while the latter are mandated to implement internationally sanctioned practical policies that are intended to improve lives. Each asks why the other doesn’t understand how difficult their job is. More

Project GLOBE - Understanding cultures and implicit leadership theories across the globe

November 2010
This paper offers a brief introduction to project GLOBE, which is the acronym for “Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness,” a 61-nation, 11-year study involving 170 researchers worldwide. The project examined national cultures to show that societal and organizational culture influences the kind of leadership found to be acceptable and effective by people within that culture. More

Supporting the creation and mobilisation of practial knowledge for social change

November 2010
Conventional methods such as surveys, questionnaires, and focus groups offer little scope for imagination or originality in search for solutions which are meaningful and relevant to the people involved. More

Farmers as entrepreneurs

November 2010
The June 2009 issue of LEISA Magazine, published by the Centre for Information on Low External Input and Sustainable Agriculture (ILEIA) focuses on the entrepreneurial efforts of small scale farmers tunder complex, often hostile, market conditions, and calls for better calibration of external support efforts to address the underlying structural inequalities that hamper scaling up and sustainability of such initiatives. More

High level retreat for African mediators

November 2011
Dates: 23-25 November 2011 Type of event: Informal consultations (invitation only) Location: Zanzibar, Tanzania Organization: Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue This ‘Africa Mediators’ Retreat’, co-hosted with the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation, will bring together around 40 mediators, peace process actors, government representatives and key experts active in mediation as well as in conflict prevention and resolution in Africa. Participants will share their experiences, identify challenges and critically reflect on their practice in an informal setting (Chatham House rules). More

Initiative to strengthen evaluation capacities of civil society organisations

March 2012
The contribution of civil society and the private sector actors in promoting greater accountability for public actions through evaluation has grown over the years. From around 15 National and regional Voluntary Organizations of Professional Evaluators (VOPEs) in the 1990s, there are more than 135 such associations today. In collaboration with UNICEF, the International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE) has announced the launch of the EvalPartners Initiative - an innovative partnership to enhance the capacities of civil society organizations (CSO) to engage in a strategic and meaningful manner in national evaluation processes, contributing to improved country-led evaluation systems and policies that are equity-focused and gender-sensitive. (Download project description - pdf) More

Organizational assessments of civil society organizations: Towards mutual accountability

November 2012
INTRAC's Praxis Note 62 highlights two recent organizational assessments by Dutch-based international NGOs to explore issues of mutual accountability in development cooperation. Noting that even among civil society organizations most development partnerships reflect the traditional 'aid-chain' - with a Northern donor NGO and recipient Southern organization(s) or 'target group' - the report stresses the need to 'reverse' the chain by striving for more dialogue and mutual accountability in assessing development results. The assessments were undertaken as part of a thematic learning programme facilitated by the Dutch support organisation PSO between April 2011 and October 2012. More

Nurturing leaders from within

October 2010
AsiaDHRRA is a regional network that offers an extensive leadership development programme for the leaders of its partners in ten countries. Lany Rebagay explains the formal training, informal approaches and the tools that have been developed as part of the programme. More

The Change Alliance

December 2010
The Change Alliance is an emerging global network that aspires to increase the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder processes (MSPs) working for transformational social change, particularly in complex settings. More

Evaluation for equitable development results

April 2012
This wide-ranging publication aims to contribute to the international debate on how to achieve equitable development results by conceptualizing, designing, implementing and using evaluations focused on human rights and equity. It does so by offering a number of strong contributions from 27 world-level experts and senior officers in institutions and governments dealing with development and evaluation. The authors also presented their contribution in a series of webinars that are available for download on the My M&E web portal. The book complements an earlier manual “ How to design and implement equity-focused evaluations,” published in 2011. More

Capacity for effective participation

November 2010
Capacity for effective participation Affirmative action measures aimed at enhancing women’s participation as political representatives in decentralised government bodies is a growing field of research and development practice. Several issues need to be addressed first, however, to realise these goals. More

Transforming financial services

October 2010
The microfinance sector in Uganda reached a critical point in the late 1990s. A transformation was needed to ensure its sustainability. Since no donor could go it alone, the transformation became a collaborative effort. More

The road to Busan

May 2011
Capacity development and aid effectiveness debates The Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness will take place in Busan, South Korea later this year. How will the question of capacity development be addressed in the forthcoming debates? More

Embracing innovative practice

October 2010
Many years of experience in the field had led David Watson to question the value of monitoring and evaluation. Recently, a range of innovative to M&E approaches has given him new hope. Here he explains why. More

Africa needs visionaries

October 2010
South African Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi believes that strong leadership is crucial at all levels. As she explains to Capacity.org, Africa needs leaders who are prepared to intervene in complex situations without holding back for fear of criticism. They must also be able to find commonalities among the differences, put people first, and learn from their mistakes. More

‘More MDGs per drop’

October 2010
Top-down approach water programmes assume people use water for a single purpose. A ‘multiple-use water services’ approach can unleash massive productive capacity in households and communities. More

NGOs provoke trade policy change

October 2010
Since the mid-1990s, when trade policy was understood by only a few experts, NGO campaigns have done a lot to increase the public exposure and awareness of trade issues. More

Participatory video for monitoring and evaluation

October 2010
Participatory video lends itself well to project monitoring and evaluation. Chris Lunch, director of Insight, describes how communities are using video to capture and interpret stories of significant change. More

Impact of research on policy and practice

October 2010
It is difficult to feed research-based evidence into policy and practice. This article discusses which capacities need to be strengthened to increase the impact of research on policy. More

Engaged or divorced?

October 2010
In many countries non-state providers play a vital role in the delivery of basic services. Based on research in six countries, Richard Batley assesses how governments could work in partnership with non-state providers and promote better services for poor communities. More

Achieving MDGs

October 2010
Meeting capacity needs is essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). But these needs must be understood in the context of the wider environment in which practitioners work. More

Preserve status quo or promote gender equality?

November 2010
Preserve status quo or promote gender equality? Women’s rights activists and gender and development practitioners have high hopes for local government as an arena for promoting gender equality and respecting women’s human rights. However, gender equality can only be achieved through radical structural change. More

Transformative adaptation

June 2012
Communities responding to climate change Most adaptation strategies focus on coping with climate change effects. But adaptation involves much more than simply putting a plaster over a scratch – it requires transformative thinking and change. More