Capacity Development by Christine Leiser
The capacity to learn is a gift, the ability to learn is a skill, the willingness to contribute to a higher goal is a choice (Brian Heribert)
Capacity development is a big word, used and sometimes abused all over the place. Zambia, like many other countries is facing enormous challenges. These include high levels of poverty and social exclusion, high rates of gender based violence, corruption and increasing population growth which places pressures on the adequate provision of basic services like housing, health care, food, education, water, energy and employment. Tackling these challenges requires all stakeholders to rethink, reinvent and reshape their approaches and operations.
Civil society as a key stakeholder in development has to rise to these challenge. For this to happen the sector needs constant capacity development to be sufficiently equipped in supporting communities to live in a more just, democratic, inclusive and environmentally-friendly society.
For ZGF, with its mission to strengthen the role of civil society to better contribute to pro-poor policy engagement, capacity development is very important. It is, in essence our contribution to civil society efforts to better deliver and promote human development. In a moment of reflection after seven years of carrying out this work in Zambia we pause to ask the following questions; are we contributing to this ambitious aim? Do our grants, trainings, toolkits and other tailored organisational support have an impact on the organizational and implementation skills of our Grant Partners?
Some of the answers to these questions can be gleaned from the feedback we receive from our partners after trainings. More than 70% of our workshop participants rate our trainings as good or very good. They confirm that the trainings have helped the organisations to become more professional especially in regard to policy engagement. And indeed, we observe more and more organisations understanding the policy cycle, promoting gender equality, promoting the rights of people with disability and even an increased awareness of environmentally friendly practices.
Having held the position of Capacity Development Manager at ZGF for the last two years I have had the opportunity to be intimately involved in supporting several civil society organisations across Zambia. I have travelled the country and visited our partners implementing in some of the most beautiful but remote areas of the country. Many are quick to share how the work of ZGF has helped them implement their project better but I also heard quite a few times that those we had recently trained had left the organisation taking the knowledge with them. I would be left thoughtful and thinking of ways we could counter balance this very real need for people to advance their careers professionally and the ‘brain-drain’ happening at organisational level. This was in the context where the reasons for leaving were not usually related to an expiring contract but just that the leaving staff felt the need to leave the organisation.
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