Donors Need Capacity Building, Too

For Ramesh Singh, Chief Executive of international charity ActionAid, building capacity doesn’t just mean teaching and enabling partners to do things better. It also means addressing donors’ capabilities and in particular, donors’ capacity to understand their partners’ abilities and listen to their needs.

In a recent video interview for capacity4dev.eu, Mr Singh explained that while working to improve government and public sector capacities was of course important, of equal importance is the need for donors to work to build their own capacity.

“Where we will win is if we are able to allow citizens’ capacity to be built – not only building citizens’ capacity but also recognising their capacity,” said Mr Singh. “We need to build our own capacity to understand the capacity that exists.”

One under-recognised capacity is the potential of social groups, according to Mr Singh. There has been a significant increase in the number of social groups in recent years, said Singh, and donors would be advised to harness the energy these groups embody. Such a course of action would go some way to undoing some of the wrongs of the past, he says.

“For the last two decades…. I think [we have] maybe structurally demolished the agricultural sector and the farmers’ [livelihoods] and I’m delighted that the attention on agriculture and farmers and rural development has returned.”

To watch the video interview in full, click on the icon below.

Mr Singh spoke during a break from a three day event in Morocco where some 120 participants from across the world gathered to discuss issues under the title ‘Capacity is Development’, organised by the United Nations Development Programme.

Attendees - including country leaders, development practitioners and experts - discussed policy choices, institutional reforms and investment decisions that enable states and societies to drive and demand a more equitable, sustainable and peaceful development.

ActionAid is an international non-governmental organisation working with local partners to fight poverty and injustice in some 42 countries worldwide. Mr Singh, originally from Nepal, has held posts in Africa, Asia and Europe since joining ActionAid more than 20 years ago. He was made chief executive in 2003.

In regard to the Commission’s role in development cooperation, Mr Singh said the EC remained an important player, not least because of its size. But also in the way the Commission is shaping policy and affecting change, if slowly.

“We have seen the European Commission responding to the need to change,” said Mr Singh. “If we could only cut the bureaucracy to its optimum we would be moving much faster and much bolder as well.”

But the Commission has capacity building of its own to do that ought not to be overlooked.

According to Mr Singh, the Commission needs to work on “building the capacity to listen to developing countries and their citizens and social movements and getting their views – providing that space in the decision making [process].”