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

2. 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

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

4. 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

5. 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?