an Eldis Resource

This paper examines the concept of capacity development (CD) in order to strengthen understanding of its importance as a concept, and to clarify the implications of adopting a capacity development approach in development cooperation.

Findings:

• there is a need for a shift away from a focus on delivery of tangible outcomes towards the promotion of ‘enhanced abilities to identify and meet development challenges, in a sustainable manner’. Capacity understood in these terms must be learned by doing, over time – it cannot be ‘delivered’
• funding agencies need to decide on entry points with due regard for the political choices implied in everything that they do
• assessing success requires recognition that the process itself is important, and can yield important benefits even before an initiative is launched
• capacity development is both a means and an end, therefore, assessing success requires focusing both on the increased performance resulting from increased capacity, and the increased potential to act, however that potential might be manifested in the future
• applying the capacity development approach is complex, given a) the requirements for a holistic, long-term approach developed in partnership with a range of stakeholders and b) the difficulty of defining and measuring satisfactory results
• applying the approach requires that funding agencies develop their own capacities in the form of: corporate culture, strategic approach and practice based on the facilitation of others’ development. This will require learning by doing

The paper concludes that although the capacity development approach is a challenging one for donors to apply, it is essential to the achievement of aid effectiveness and sustainable development.

[adapted from the author]

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