Capacity Development

Capacity development

In general, capacity can be defined as the ability to perform tasks and produce outputs, to define and solve problems and make informed choices. Capacity development is the process by which organizations create and strengthen their capacity overtime. Capacity building is more than training and involves more than the development of technical skills: It includes the responsible institution’s infrastructure, equipment, organizational values and culture, incentives, human and financial resources, policies, regulations and procedures necessary to fulfil a specific task.

In most decentralization processes tasks and responsibilities are transferred to local governments which did not have yet sufficient opportunities to build the technical and management capacities to perform these new tasks. Such capacity building processes, involving capacity transfer from the central to the local level, are key to the success of decentralization, however often underestimated in time and resources. In most cases, central governments while losing operational responsibility for delivering services, keep other responsibilities, particularly with regard to oversee and monitor local performance. They need different types of capacities (working methods and procedures, policies, regulations, skills and values) to fulfil such tasks. Development cooperation can support the capacity development at central and local levels, with regard to the new tasks to be performed by the respective level of government.

Useful links and documents:

· Capacity development, a UNDP primer, New York 2009,

· Arne Svensson, Reference Document on Capacity Building for Decentralization and local governance, 2009 (Draft),

	Download (PDF, 502 KB): [en]

· UN Capital Development Fund, Delivering the Goods: Building local government capacity to achieve the MDGs: A practitioner’s guide from UNCDF experience in the Least Development Countries, 2005,

· The World Bank, Community-driven development in local government capacity building projects: Emerging approaches in Africa, The World Bank Social Development Notes No. 86/2004,

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Reference Document on Capacity Development for Local Governance and Decentralisation May 2009 Author: Arne Svensson The Reference Document should provide guidance and practical recommendations on the five steps of the capacity development (CD) cycle: (i) engage with stakeholders; (ii) assess capacity assets and needs; (iii) formulate capacity development responses; (iv) implement capacity development responses; and (v) evaluate change in capacity, and ensure sustained national capacity development. Download (PDF, 502 KB): [en]

Intercooperation’s Experience Capitalisation Documents on Capacity Building for Decentralisation and November 2008 Author: Intercooperation This document contains a short and not exhaustive list of experience capitalisation documents on capacity building for decentralisation and local governance from projects funded by SDC and implemented by Intercooperation. Download (PDF, 126 KB): [en]   Building capacities for monitoring and evaluating Decentralisation and Local Governance November 2007 Author: ecdpm European Centre for Development Policy Management Experiences, challenges, perpectives This InBrief is aimed to stimulate the debate on developing local capacities to monitor and evaluate decentralisation and local governance processes. It draws on the results of action research jointly conducted by the Malian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Local Government (MATCL) and the Réseau de Réflexion et d’Échanges sur le Développement Local (REDL), a Bamako-based network of development organisations. The SNV Netherlands Development Organisation-Mali and ECDPM were asked to facilitate this process of joint stock-taking and analysis, which resulted, among other outputs, in the publication of eleven case studies presenting experiences and study results from six West African countries. Keywords: building capacities, monitoring, West-Africa Download (PDF, 1468 KB): [en]

Supporting Capacities for Integrated Local Development October 2007 Author: UNDP - Kanni Wignaraja This Practice Note aims to provide a concise overview of the capacity challenges involved in local development and potential ways to address them.1 The Note provides a point of reference for discerning where capacity development investments and efforts could be focused, rather than set solutions or a detailed roadmap for capacity development interventions. The optimal mix of support will be context-specific and can be determined through the use of capacity assessment and costing methodologies. Download (PDF, 483 KB): [en]

Concept paper on Decentralisation and local Governance October 2007 Author: Hans Bjørn Olsen The present document has 3 main objectives: - To further a common understanding about concepts linked to decentralisation and local governance within SDC (HQs and field). - To give basic conceptual elements for capacity-building activities in decentralisation. - The document does not pretend to be an academically precise paper, but rather a short and succinct presentation of the various concepts. Download (PDF, 227 KB): [en]

The institutional Development of Local Government in less developed countries November 2005 Author: UNDP - Lenni Montiel “Strengthening the Capacity of People’s Elected Bodies in Viet Nam”. The paper comprises three chapters. Chapter I is devoted to an analysis of ID and other related terms in the literature from a general perspective, as well as th e use of ID as an appropriate method for promoting better institutions for development. Chapter II focuses on the topic of ID of LG in LDCs. An analysis of ID practice shows that ID has been typically oriented towards central government activities. Chapter III draws together contributions and proposals for improvement, considered relevant for the analysis of ID of LGs in LDCs, drawn out from the general literature on decentralisation and LG in African, Asian and Latin American countries. Keywords: Vietnam, institutional development Download (PDF, 606 KB): [en]