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The New Partnership for Africa’s Development, NEPAD, has prepared a Capacity Development Strategic Framework which may evolve into a common reference for donors supporting capacity development on the continent.

The Capacity Development Strategic Framework (CDSF) scheduled to be presented for endorsement at the African Union summit in February 2010 has been prepared in a consultative process over the last three years across the continent.

The framework recognises the importance of capacity development in “empowering Africans to embark on the set development agenda, and for them to fulfil their creative potential”.

The framework further states that “much of Africa’s inability to implement programmes with far reaching impact stem from systemic weaknesses at the levels of the state, the region, and the continent, as well as at the institutional and individual level. The inter-relationship amongst these levels of governance has created vicious cycles in which poverty, limited capacity, and bad governance are mutually supportive.”

The Framework is built on the following principles:

• Leadership Transformation

• Citizen Transformation

• Utilising African Potentials

• Skills and Resources for Development

• Capacity of Capacity Builders

• Integrated Approaches and Continuous Improvement Processes

• Knowledge-based and innovation-driven processes

NEPAD’s framework will be mainstreamed at sector level and tested in a number of NEPAD-supported programmes. Being the first such joint framework prepared in Africa, it has the potential to become a common reference to which donors can align, and thereby reduce multiple donor frameworks for capacity development.