Capacity Development Projects

I. Capacity Development for MDG Localisation: The UNDP/SNV Partnership in Asia

Partnership with a Purpose

UNDP and SNV (Netherlands Development Organisation) have been working in a global partnership to address poverty reduction and sustainable human development through MDG-based national development strategies adapted, implemented and monitored at the local level – a process known as MDG-localisation.

By focusing on developing the capacities of local actors to deliver pro-poor services that are better targeted, more relevant, better quality, more measurable and more sustainable, the UNDP/SNV cooperation agreement (known as Activity Agreement IV, or AA4) aims to accelerate progress on the MDGs through activities that can be replicated elsewhere.

Country Specific Responses

Through a process of localising national development strategies, four very different countries in the region have taken up the challenge of developing capacity to analyse, design, plan, implement and monitor for poverty reduction and service delivery results at the local level.

• In Bhutan, triple processes of local development planning, decentralization and democratization are being supported with functional capacity development of newly elected local officials, backed up by improved ICT and a block grant facility for sub-district local government (Partner: Development Division of the Planning Commission).

• In Lao PDR, the aim is to develop a system to monitor and report on socio-economic development plan progress at the district and village level in three pilot provinces, developing capacity to implement the system and use it for improved planning of service delivery at the community level, to be scaled up to all provinces (Partner: Commission for Planning and Investment).

• In Nepal, the project will assist six districts to improve service delivery and poverty reduction through developing local capacities for improved poverty analysis, participatory and MDG-focused planning, and application of an effective and inclusive monitoring system (Partner: Ministry of Local Development).

• In Vietnam, multi-stakeholder and bottom-up planning processes are being supported by developing the capacity of local government for participatory monitoring and analysis of planning  results, and the piloting of national M & E guidelines (Partner: Provincial People’s Committee, Thua Thien Hue Province)

Regional Initiatives to Scale-up Impact

Scaling up of sub-national capacity development initiatives can happen in several ways, from focusing on strengthening partnerships to finding synergies with development projects of other donors and development organizations. The experience of the UNDP/SNV partnership in Asia suggests that the way to scale up is to create momentum for policy change, by consolidating and building on lessons learned throughout the region, with a view to advocating for more dedicated investments in capacity development at the local level.

The first Regional Engagement Plan (REP), “Learning for MDG Localisation: Towards Learning and Networking on Capacity Development Approaches” focuses on strengthening analysis and documentation of practices and lessons learned from local-level capacity development initiatives aimed at accelerating MDG achievement.

A multi-stakeholder workshop, “Learning By Doing: Capacity Development Approaches at the Local Level”, was convened in Bangkok, Thailand in November 2007. It had the dual objectives of identifying critical local capacity needs and sharing capacity development strategies aimed at contributing to the MDGs at the sub-national level. Following the workshop, an e-discussion group was also launched, to facilitate ongoing knowledge sharing, as well as to provide a forum to continue gathering evidences of local-level capacity development.

In addition to consolidating lessons learned, it is important to identify and address parameters that can be changed in the policy domain. One such parameter is the issue of investments in capacity development at the local level: What are governments investing in capacity development? What do these investments entail in terms of specific activities? Are the investments limited to trainings only, or are other issues examined and acted on? What levels of human and financial resources are invested in managing change in institutions, in order for them to act more effectively? What are donor/international partner practices in regards to local-level capacity development?

These are among the questions that inform the activities of the second Regional Engagement Plan, “Advocacy for Local Development for MDG Progress in Asia”, which looks to engage partner governments in the region on the issue of dedicated investments of time, and human and financial resources, specifically for capacity development, and especially at the local level. To this end, a process of dialogue and advocacy with partner governments, based on hard evidence, has been conceived through the following components:

• Research: to review emerging approaches, strategies and experiences of investing in sub-national capacity development, including evidence of good practice and case studies that establish a correlation between investment in capacity development and sustainable development outcomes at the local level.
• A multi-stakeholder Regional Advocacy Workshop (planned for June 2008): to build on evidences gathered through the research and lay a foundation for a capacity development advocacy strategy aimed at strengthening government and donor investments targeted at local capacity development initiatives.
• Knowledge Products: including a set of best practices on investments in local-level capacity development and an advocacy strategy highlighting the need for greater attention to local capacity development in the region.

Resources

The following case studies have been commissioned under the UNDP/SNV regional initiative. Research was conducted in three countries in the region (Nepal, the Philippines, and Vietnam) to review and analyze broad trends in capacity development at the local level– how it is viewed, how it is approached, and what costs, time and money are being dedicated to it.

A key objective of these studies is therefore to provide data toward establishing a baseline of current investments in local capacity development in the region. This baseline will allow for assessing change over time; it will also guide efforts to advocate strategically with governments and donors for more, and better targeted, investments in capacity development at the local level.”

Nepal Investments in Local Capacity Development (846 kB)

Philippines Investment in Local Capacity Development (596 kB)

Vietnam Investments in Local Capacity Development (718 kB)

Pakistan Investments in Local Capacity Development (302 kB)

Why Government and Donors Should Increase Investment in Local Capacity Development (167 kB)