Results of Capacity Development – Issues and Approaches Videoconference Consultation Results of Capacity Development – Issues and Approaches Mark Nelson, WBI May 26, 2009

Aid Effectiveness and Capacity Development: Importance of Results Results of capacity development efforts have not met expectations Donors devote $20 billion to knowledge & learning for development partners Recent reviews highlighted important deficiencies Do we achieve and demonstrate results? Bad practices perpetuate because of weak reporting Good practices are not captured and disseminated Are we moving forward? Paris Declaration and results on the ground Main players of international community of practice in capacity development

CD = Skills +Will B Capacity development Political will/ engaged society A Skills, technical assistance, resources

Challenges of moving forward Lack of consensus in measuring results - makes it difficult to evaluate outcomes and understand impact Challenges in comparability of programs - impedes identification of best practices and lessons learned No mutual understanding of strategy and evaluation with partners - weakens local ownership and sustainability Insufficient evidence and little accountability - reduces the viability of programs among stakeholders Lack of common terminology for knowledge exchange -discourages a community of practice

Current approaches and practices Do we need to focus on results to improve aid effectiveness? Cost-benefit of measuring results of capacity development Convergence or divergence of theory and practice Variety of approaches to capacity development: UNDP, WBI, DANIDA, CIDA, DFID Does the theory translate into practice?