Addressing the Paris Declaration Collective Responsibility for Capacity Development What Works, and What Doesn't? 3-5 October 2006 Nairobi, Kenya Faced with the challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals, the international development community spent much of 2005 reflecting on the volume and effectiveness of aid and its role in poverty reduction. One of the most important results of this process was growing recognition of the paramount role of capacity development: Regardless of how much funding and external support is given, development efforts will invariably fail without enhanced country capacity at both national and local level. By now, it is widely acknowledged that the process of developing capacity must originate from within. Partner countries should lead and donors should play a supporting role – a consensus as well as a challenge clearly articulated in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness of March 2005. The Learning Network on Capacity Development (LenCD) held its 2006 International Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, October 3-5 to identify suitable approaches and experiences in response to this challenge. The aim was to determine what works and what doesn’t in addressing capacity development as part of country development strategies. Taking the Paris Declaration as a point of departure, the forum addressed the following three questions: 1. How to support Capacity Development through joint approaches? 2. How to assess progress in Capacity and Capacity Development? 3. How to strengthen Capacity Development through mutual and domestic accountability? By bringing together participants’ insights and experiences that respond to these questions the forum facilitated knowledge exchange and learning on capacity development practice. It aimed to develop practical guidance through generating synthesis notes, products and other practical outcomes of use to practitioners in the field. A mixture of short presentations, break-out sessions and participant-led discussions during the forum aimed to share experiences and to crystallize emerging promising practices and lessons. For more detailed information on the forum and presentations please click here |
