Capacity Development as a Core Driver of Development Effectiveness

1. Capacity Development as a Core Driver of Development Effectiveness Richard Ssewakiryanga Executive Director Uganda National NGO Forum Plot 25, Muyenga Tank Hill Rd, KabalagalaPO Box 4636, Kampala, Uganda Office: +256 312 260 373/ 414 510 272 Cell: +256 772 408 365 Fax: +256 312 260 372 Website: www.ngoforum.or.ug

2. Core definitions • We should understand “capacity” as “the ability of people, institutions and communities across Africa to manage their affairs successfully”. • Therefore capacity development should be about unleash, strengthen, create, adapt and maintain capacity over time of people institution and communities across the continent.

3. Core definitions • In Africa development effectiveness should be about the impact of development actors’ actions on the lives of poor and marginalized populations. • Development effectiveness should promote sustainable change that addresses the root causes as well as the symptoms of poverty, inequality, marginalization and injustice.

4. Core definitions • Development effectiveness should also aim to dismantle patriarchal power structures and ensure that the poor and marginalized are positioned as the central actors and owners of development

5. Links • Capacity development becomes a core of development effectiveness because of an important variable that links capacity and development and that is: country ownership • Country ownership of development programs which should be understood not simply as government ownership, but as democratic ownership. • Democratic ownership here meaning that citizens’ voices and their concerns must be the primary basis for national development plans, policies and processes

6. Connections – CD and DevEff • There are 5 important dimensions of capacity development that need to be addressed in order to ensure that CD leads to development effectiveness in Africa. These are; • Leadership and accountability in institutions and African states • Knowledge exchange, brain drain, roles of diasporas and indigenous knowledge • Dealing with states in fragility and protection as well as rapid response of capacity gaps • Promoting effective south to south cooperation • Sharing and collaboration around best practice examples

7. Leadership and accountability • Countries have got to reflect and deal with the questions of leadership that creates the enabling environment for all actors to flourish • Capacity are stifled, capacities ran away because of questions of leader • Accountability on the other hand is about holding those with responsibilities to account with the purpose of securing more responsive, efficient and effective behaviour. • It means ensuring that actions are answered for, that performance is evaluated, and that consequent steps are taken.

8. Knowledge exchange, brain drain, diasporas and indigenous knowledge • A critical part of our work will be how we ensure that knowledge is treasured, natured, developed as well as protected from flight and that diasporas are also harnessed for Africa’s development • We need to ask the hard questions of how leadership facilitates brain drain and the relegation of indigenous knowledge as backward and having no role on the developmental state

9. Dealing with states in fragility capacity issues • Capacity development gets dissipated rapidly in situation of conflict – we see this happening in countries like the DRC, Angola and now Tunisia, Egypt and a few other countries • Our response rate to restore, rebuild and rehabilitate does take time and lots of resources – we therefore need to think about how CD focuses on this issue

10. Promoting effective south to south cooperation • SSC is usually based on a philosophy of mutual respect and sometimes solidarity between the participants • SSC sometimes draws on a better understanding of the political context and has potential to lead to more sustainable development and conditions for self sustenance • However, there is sometimes insufficient institutional capacity for SSC so transparency and accountability mechanisms are not yet in place in all countries • The growth of new actors is exacerbating fragmentation of development cooperation across the continent

11. Sharing and Learning from best practices • We need to build on the momentum created by this platform and ensure that there is better sharing of evidence and knowledge. • We need to go beyond the descriptive and anecdotal and ensure that our CD efforts are underpinned with a stronger evidence base

12. Role of CSOs in CD and Dev Eff • CSOs, along with parliaments, an independent media, and other actors have an important role to play in generating the social, political and economic changes necessary for development effectiveness • As the AAA recognized, CSOs are “independent development actors in their own right … whose efforts complement those of governments and the private sector.” • To that end, signatories of the AAA have committed themselves to working with CSOs “to provide an enabling environment that maximizes their contributions to development.”

13. Role of CSOs in CD and Dev Eff • CSOs are committed to maximizing their contributions to development • But development effectiveness of CSOs also requires legal frameworks and mechanisms that provide for freedom of association, access to information, the right of citizens to organize and participate in national and international decision-making processes and a free and open media. • The empowerment of poor and marginalized people to claim their rights is also essential to making development progress.

14. CSO Efforts • The civil society-led Open Forum on CSO Development Effectiveness process presents donors and developing country governments with an opportunity to engage with CSOs on these issues and strengthen CSOs’ accountability and development effectiveness • In Africa we have initiated the ‘Road to Busan’ process with consultation having kicked-off this Feb 2011 in Nairobi and will continue to engage with this platform toward Busan and beyond • We welcome this initiative and look forward to a more sustained engagement

15. I thank you for listening!