Bridging the Gap: Strengthening Capacity Development in Africa

1. Africa Working Group

2. Issues: Help Bridge the gap between OD and CD • We have few OD practitioners in Africa • They need to interact with public sector, private sector and CSOs • Low of capacity for African experts to network • Few attempts to come together most of the time failed • IODA – International Organisation of Development Association (international network)

3. Issues • How do we help each other to be a learning group, to mentor each other, etc? • Governance in Africa – this has nothing to do with public sector. How d we bring issues of governance, leadership, accountability from local level to state level • Where do MPs come from – from the community. If they are educated at the local level, they will come to the house informed, and there will be better oversight

4. Issues • Civil society is supposed to provide oversight. But they are not good • New phenomena – donors providing resources for capacity development. • How do we learn and exchange ideas – there is a big picture • Natural resources, extractive industry, no safety nets, the government supposed to protect, they are the ones evicting them. They parliamentarians, not defending them.

5. Issues • How do we get the communities to engage and get more empowered. • Knowledge gaps? • Policy, laws, are software • Build a more coherent community of practice and also community of learning.

6. Issues • Difference between policy and practice. • The practitioners are not involved. • If we don’t engage those of the ground, it is difficult • Organisational capacities

7. What do we have currently?

8. CD expert; regional expert pool... Expand the network • ApDev • Don’t have capacity development experts per say we have OD experts. We need to look at CD broader perspective (MDIs – management development Institutes) – skills training with the bigger picture. • Build a team of CD experts – CSOs getting less power or legitimacy

9. Africa Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) • Transformative leadership program needs to be linked to the APRM; National Program of Action (NPAs) can be pursued. • The peer reviews approved at the national level – therefore when it goes to AU, it • Not just governance but systems and processes • APRM are legitimate and credible. • We need to be very pragmatic – where citizens are happy with. E.g. Ghana happy with the report • Nigeria has a good result

10. E-learning Course on Capacity Development • Its a space – the learning package is building on the basic concept of CD. • If we all accept as the basic concept that its the basic concept of CD. If we got all them to do the curse, then we are beginning to bring • Its designing, practice, ... Each cohort has a joint project. • FAO people to take the course. Capacity Development in CAADP project – capacities in investment planning in CAADP (DRC, Chad, Lesotho, cameroon, Tanzania...)

11. CABRI – in PFM • CABRI – public finance issues. Network sectoral and institutional. They also tend to be ministry officials. Dont have think tanks, • CABRI thinks of country systems as PFM – therefore may miss a mark. • Institutional reform – accountability angle. • Revenue, accountability institutions, etc • Political messaging – reform (on CABRI... Political economics)

12. AWG - ApDev • Opportunities are there... We need to rally around APDEV and get our voices loud • After the session engage with Brian, Jason and Florence – a platform we can use. • Len-CD bring it to the international level • Virtual and physical – platform for discourse on some of the issues that have been raised. • Opportunity with ApDev (continental steering group) • Meant to mobilise experts for capacity development everythign happening around it in connecting energy, etc. • Pillar 5 – build capacity of capacity builders

13. What change do we want to see? • System, institution, individual that are progressively improving. [Change management and making reforms happen.]

14. What change do we want to see? • Capacity Development approaches should be systemic and wholistic – not sector specific! • However donors give money sectorally! • We need to change this thinking.

15. How? • Develop CD experts • Multisectoral approach/systematic/cross-sectorally/bottom up/ • Mapping out • Handle strategic levers – which ones will help in others (pool & also sector/issues (food sec & pfm) • Use the e-learning to increase the pool • Use available Channels/platforms: NEPAD, FAO, OECD/EIP platforms • NEPAD did profile for 18 countries. Went down from national to local level – what came out is that there is need to strengthen local levels. Community leadership is necessary to strengthen the demand side. Empowerment of Communities

16. How? • Change the business cycles :CD practitioners need to articulate what they want and what works for them. Appreciative Inquiry... practitioner, advocate and change person. we must affect the system; make reform happen. Keep interrogating the systems until they work. Change the business cycles of our government in our countries. • Empowerment: Need to accompany the local organisations beyond the needs assessment. Coaching, mentoring... Etc. We need to use the tool box.

17. How? • APRM/ACBF indicator: Countries developing their own indicators and are measuring. CD practitioners engage in the APRM • Entry point... To define how we shall intervene. Translate it to CD – what does it mean to systems and processes. • So that the organisation can deliver on its results. The OD should help deliver the results – in most cases dev results.

18. Conclusion: What we can offer as Africa • Do we have an ideal position that we want to sell? • Solidify the middle – the interphase (of practitioners).. • Whole practice in the middle that is not at the table • Need to be recognised, and their input sort... • They have to generate a demand. • The CD facilitators