Catalog

"Capacity development is the process whereby people, organizations, and society as a whole unleash, strengthen, create, adapt, and maintain capacity over time."
—Development Assistance Committee of OECD

In some Pacific island countries, there are serious limitations to public and private sector performance. These limitations are rooted in an inability of the public service to provide, and civil society to demand public services as well as the means to create more businesses and jobs.

Study

A Pacific Capacity Development (CD) study, sponsored by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), was undertaken in 2007. Pacific country case studies were written by Pacific island consultants. These studies examined what developments have been relatively successful and why.

Findings

• Capacity is thought of as individual skills or organizational abilities. This is incomplete.
• Few of the cases studied revealed a thorough assessment of capacity when planning projects. However, many did expose a lack of central government support, political intervention or other weak enabling conditions as problems during implementation.
• Many cases attributed "success" to a relatively solid understanding of the local context. This included factors "below the water line" such as the local political economy—that were found to be as or more critical to success than the more visible factors, e.g., organization goals, structures, or technical needs, on which project designers often focus.

Challenges

Some capacity challenges are common to all developing countries. Others are unique to the Pacific. These include:

• Gaps in strategically important areas, such as economic policy and financial management
• Regular outflows of skilled people
• Weak economies
• Young states
• Ongoing tensions between modern and traditional power
• Limited demand for quality services, jobs, and good governance
• Excess aid preventing better use of existing capacities
• Varying country conditions with fragile and post-conflict states facing severe challenges

Success

Implications

What the Pacific needs is:

• A good understanding of social, economic, cultural, and political factors that can affect CD
• Highly participatory planning, design and implementation
• Work with existing "demand" to build ownership and legitimacy
• Include island-specific decision-making processes
• To build on what exists, allow for changing contexts, pay attention to broader issues, allow for adequate time, and progress at an appropriate pace
• For the monitoring and evaluation of CD to be driven by Pacific islanders
• Restoration of peace, security, and services in post-conflict countries while remaining focused on long-term capacity needs

Actions

ADB has prepared a CD framework and capacity assessment tool to help ensure more effective capacity development in the future.

• An ongoing, country-led, participatory effort
• Better understanding of development policy, the political economy, leadership, ownership, and means to reaching consensus on difficult decisions
• Assessment and agreement on priorities
• For small states, CD priorities may lie in better policy formulation, budget management, and public service management and an improved business environment
• A greater focus on results

• Island assessments of capacity
• Participation to enhance ownership
• "Demand-driven" approaches
• Assessing best entry points, timing, and means to exit
• Increased emphasis on local accountability
• Exploring options, such as island-managed CD funds, personnel exchanges, and greater use of local consultants
• A greater focus on results

• Employment of Pacific-experienced staff and consultants
• Increased role for governments in design, consultants' selection and implementation
• Stronger development partners coordination with consistent policies
• Curtailing aid where capacity is threatened
• Support to firmer public sector management in the islands
• A greater focus on results

The Provincial Performance Improvement Initiative
[ PDF: 937kb | 36 pages ]