‘Coalitions for Change’ and the Practical Application of LenCD Learning

The Learning Network on Capacity Development, or LenCD, is a collection of people and a community of practice that has evolved out of concern over the effectiveness of capacity development in aid projects. In light of the considerable sums spent on technical assistance, LenCD has become known for its outspoken advocacy for capacity development, and as a provider of important guidance. Citizen empowerment emerged as a key theme at the recent LenCD Learning Event in Brussels.

LenCD is an organisation of individuals, representatives of government, multilateral and bilateral organisations, civil society, think tanks and NGOs who care about the effectiveness of capacity development support and sustainability of results. 

“Capacity development (CD) is one of the most difficult parts of the development process … we know how to build bridges, we know how to create health systems, but we don’t know how to help countries build ‘coalitions for change’ or help them understand how these change processes take place,” said the former LenCD co-chairman, Mark Nelson of the World Bank Institute, at the LenCD event.

“Even in the most developed countries, the things that need to be done to change policies and to improve systems involve a variety of people cooperating, and many different kinds of input,’ he continued. ‘That’s why capacity development remains an important focus of our work in development, and it will require study and attention for years to come.”

LenCD provides the space for capacity development stakeholders to share experiences and document helpful practices. Janet Awimbo of the Global Greengrants Fund, herself a long-time LenCD member, ascribes the success of the organisation to ‘articulating the ideas and facilitating the dialogue surrounding capacity development’, while making allowances for dynamism in the concept. In all, she said, LenCD ‘gives meaning to something difficult.'

The organisation prides itself on achieving a number of milestones in its ten-year history. “First and foremost, it was able to put capacity development on the agenda,” said LenCD Coordinator Lawrencia Adams. “Then, with OECD DAC, we produced a Guide to Capacity Development, and we also had a role to play for NEPAD developing their African Platform for Development Effectiveness.”

Organised in collaboration with the European Union, LenCD's Learning Event on Change Management and Making Reform Happen brought together more than 40 capacity development specialists to reflect and share their experience of institutional reform, including from the Effective Institutions Platform (EIP), OECD/DAC, and The Governance Network. The event, held in Brussels on June 20th, aimed to gather best practice to assist future advancements in capacity development.

Practical case experiences were presented in parallel sessions. As an example, Heidi Tavakoli and Rebecca Simson from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) presented research carried out in Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Uganda, where aid appears to have had a positive effect on the institutional framework for service delivery. The project explored whether aid help address governance constraints and if so, how. Six enabling factors were identified pointing to contextual dynamics, political incentive structures, building on what is there, strategic dialogue and process facilitation as opposed to external "advice", and adaptive approaches. 

Assisting the development of an empowered citizenry, with a stronger voice to hold governments, CSOs and the private sector to account, emerged as a key theme at the event.  

Image

“The African Union and African has a transformative agenda on the cards,” said Florence Nazare, who is Head of the Capacity Development Division of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency. “This agenda is complex, and we need to look at the leadership capacities that we have - transformative capacities that can relate to the agenda in hand, at all levels from technical to political.” 

This ties in, she continued, with what is known in capacity development terms as ‘coalition building’. “Africa has its own Capacity Strategic Framework. One key area is citizen empowerment -  “the citizen for change” - and we need to see a number of coalitions forming to foster this change.”

Participants agreed that progress in capacity development can be seen where there are effective coalitions of people, with differing agendas, working together in synergy or a complementary way towards a common objective .

“To me, CD is about delivering quality services and quality results in whatever area," offered Alfredo Mazive of the Academia de Descenvolvimento Humano e Ornanizacional Wumunho, Mozambique. "If you want a government to provide quality services you must not only provide the government with capacity to do so, but also capacity to citizens to demand quality services.” 

Mazive holds that CD needs to be looked at in holistic terms, looking at the interest of 'tax paying citizens', so that they know what type of services to expect from the government. 

In remote parts of Bangladesh, the PRIP Trust adopts a similar approach. It works to develop institutional capacities so that local governments are accountable to their own citizens. “The main challenge is institutional governance at all levels and this is the reason why we have not been able to conquer poverty,” said Aroma Dutta of PRIP. “The worst sufferers do not have access to institutions. It’s a one way street, with a top down approach and not a needs-based development framework.”  

Dutta’s work involves explaining holistic approaches to capacity development. “It has been very much misunderstood here,” she said.

In a skype call from Nigeria, Dr Joe Abah showcased the work of the DFID funded State Partnership for Accountability, Responsiveness and Capability (SPARC) programme. He promoted that the political will to engage citizens can be nurtured through a combination of high-level agreements, incentives, and using society based political pressure through civil society and legislature. When engaging with power, he said, the approach should be tailored to the context, and to existing systems. With this, SPARC has seen solid results in its first year. “And if it can be done in Nigeria, it can be done anywhere!” he quipped.

Participants provided their input to defining priorities and initiatives for the LenCD work plan, which was discussed on the following day at the LenCD General Assembly.

Encouraging LenCD to continue its work as a "vigorous advocacy partnership" and an informal safe space for learning, they promoted using methods from high-level advocacy aimed at politicians, to country level active learning. Entry points for promoting change were seen in developing capacity within institutional results systems, and the need to ground CD advocacy and learning in sectoral realities. The network was also encouraged to broaden its reach.

“It’s heart warming to find there is so much convergence,” said Florence Nazare, but she stressed the need for further action. “We need to dig deeper and get more to the practical to see the change we want to see happen,” she said. 

This collaborative piece was drafted with input from Thomas Theisohn and Maria Sancho Hidalga, with support from the capacity4dev.eu Coordination Team.