Taking Account of Context and Opportunity for Better Capacity Development

Understanding the local context in a developing country can significantly help effective development planning. But Professor Enzo Caputo recommends going one step further and embracing the ‘Opportunity Framework’ for more effective Capacity Development, as he explained at a recent event in Brussels.

The Opportunity Framework rests on the idea that change usually occurs in response to a window of opportunity, explained Mr Caputo at the European Commission's workshop on Technical Cooperation and Capacity Development in July 2011. If opportunities are identified and harnessed, they can help donors and partner countries to achieve development objectives.

When properly embraced by a Government, the Opportunity Framework can be a powerful driver of change and create conditions for accelerated Capacity Development, according to Mr Caputo who is currently leading a study on the evaluation methodology of Capacity Development for EuropeAid.

Such opportunities emerge through long term endogenous regional and national processes, but can be facilitated through the establishment of political and economic partnerships.  They can have a tremendous impact on the development process, explained Mr Caputo.

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and prospect of membership for a number of Eastern European countries is an example of a created opportunity that prompted economic and political transformation within Eastern Europe, and which benefitted the EU as a whole.

A group of "relatively better-off" countries can also shape an Opportunity Framework, say for a neighbouring country in a situation of fragility, through the establishment of economic or political partnerships.

Making reference to the recent transformations in Tunisia, Mr Caputo mentioned the long-term cooperation agreement with the European Union as an example of an Opportunity Framework that contributed to a progressive economic and political transformation. It also shows how countries can be affected by regional dynamics as analysed in the 1996-2008 evaluation on Budget Support in Tunisia.

This is to say, stressed Mr Caputo, that big international players like the EU should be fully aware of the link between the political and economic partnerships they establish and the success of their aid programmes.

"Working with the Opportunity Framework concept requires a careful analysis of the country's opportunities and how those opportunities could be taken into account to make aid more effective," said Mr Caputo.

In Mr Caputo’s view the Opportunity Framework should not be dealt with as an additional or separate element in development cooperation, rather it should be part of the wider analysis of context including Political Economy Analysis. The consideration of the Opportunity Framework should start at programming level and should be revisited continuously throughout the programme cycle.

However,  doing so is not an easy task, Mr Caputo acknowledged. It requires having the right people on the ground who have both the authority and ability to react to changing circumstances.  It also raises a number of questions. For instance:

• Do current rules and procedures provide the flexibility needed to adapt programmes according to emerging opportunities?
• Given the increasing pressure placed on donors to reduce risk, speed up disbursements and achieve rapid results, is there an appetite for more open-ended programme frameworks which are not so easily planned upfront?
• How can the influence of contextual factors such as political economy and opportunity  be taken account of in the design of monitoring and evaluation frameworks?

In a context of intense discussions on results-based management, Mr Caputo highlighted EuropeAid's work-in-progress on the development of an approach to evaluate Capacity Development.

Click here to download the presentation on the Opportunity Framework given by Enzo Caputo at the July 2011 European Commission's workshop on Technical Cooperation and Capacity Development.