IDS, 2005. For decades, the development community has intervened in poor countries with little understanding of the political and institutional landscape, and with scant regard for the impact of their actions. Policy makers need to think much more about what is actually happening, why, and how...

UNDP/BDP/CDG, 2005. This review of 20 institutional assessment tools draws from publicly available resources of non-profit organisations, management consultancies, UN agencies and other donor organisations.

Francis Fukuyama, 2005. ‘Weak or failed states are the source of many of the world’s most serious problems,’ Fukuyama believes. He traces what we know – and more often don’t know – about how to transfer functioning public institutions to developing countries in ways that will leave something of...

Swiss Commission for Research Partnerships with Developing Countries (KFPE), 2004. This book analyses eight case studies of research partnerships between the North and the South, focusing on the impacts of such partnerships, including attitudinal changes, capacity strengthening, and on society...

Brian Levy and Sahr Kpundeh (Eds), World Bank, 2004. If Africa is to have a well-functioning public sector there needs to be a paradigm shift in how to analyze and build state capacity. African governments and their partners should move from a narrow focus on organisational, technocratic and p...

Catholic Institute for International Relations, 2005. This comprehensive manual on capacity building for local NGOs can be used for training and development or as a self-help manual. Available on CD and free online in pdf format.  

World Bank, 2005. African countries need to improve the performance of their public sectors if they are to achieve their goals of growth, poverty reduction, and the provision of better services. This evaluation assesses Bank support for public sector capacity building in Africa over the past 10...

UNDP/Earthscan, 2005. The final report of the UN Millennium Project describes how to achieve the MDGs. The practical solutions exist. The political framework is established. And for the first time, the cost is utterly affordable. Whatever one’s motivation for attacking the crisis of extreme pov...