Special Report ACBF
20 years of capacity building in Africa … challenges, successes, and the way forward
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has had 20 years to develop knowledge and learn lessons from the challenges it has encountered on the way. Today, the Foundation is strategically placed to harness and embed capacity building as an integral part of the development framework. Sam Arthur reports.
and institutional capacity for sustainable growth and poverty reduction in Africa”. This mission remains as relevant and apt today as 20 years ago. Working in 44 African countries,
W
with a portfolio of 127 interventions, the Foundation’s strategy since inception has been demand-driven and this demand has underscored the need for ownership by grant beneficiaries of all ACBF projects. In March 2011, the ACBF held a
High-Level Summit in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, to celebrate its 20th anniversary. Participants at the summit included five African heads of state and government, heads of multilateral and bilateral agencies, including the African Development Bank, the World Bank and the UN Economic Commission for Africa, African dignitaries, academics and public and private sector representatives. The Forum resolved and committed to collaborate on guiding principles that will inform future ACBF capacity development programmes across Africa. The principles focus on delivering
tangible results; building long-term economic, social and governmental institutions; aligning and promoting the development process of governments; driving change at all levels of society, and being innovative and sharing lessons. To ensure that these principles become
a reality, African countries and other ACBF members have committed themselves in the following areas:
hen the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) was established 20 years ago, it was given the mission “to build human
• African governments and development partners should both harmonise capacity building initiatives under government-owned coordination mechanisms.
• The ACBF is to coordinate and integrate capacity building institutions across Africa – beginning with the implementation of the Africa Capacity Indicators. Two years before the ACBF’s 20th
anniversary celebration, the Foundation established a platform to bring to the fore debates on capacity development. It began in Ghana with the first High Level Forum (HLF), held under the theme: “Unearthing the next 20 years of capacity development in Africa”. This forum focused on how past
Dr Frannie Léautier, executive secretary of the ACBF
• African governments are to set their development priorities and identify the capacity gaps they have in achieving them. They will clearly set out the type of support they require. The governments are encouraged to prepare capacity building plans, with the ACBF offering support to those who need it.
• Development partners and capacity building institutions are to align all their financial and technical support towards the priorities in advance of the United Nations Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to be held in the South Korean city of Busan (29 Nov-1 Dec 2011).
capacity development efforts could be consolidated. It highlighted Africa’s need for strategic interventions, ranging from political governance to effective development policies and programmes. The debate highlighted the fact that
the success of Africa’s efforts to address poverty reduction depended on the pace at which it tackled development challenges, and the role played by institutions, like the ACBF, which are well placed to provide an effective response. Addressing an essential question on
what key indicators or lack of capacity was holding Africa back and the uneven nature of capacity on the continent, the ACBF executive secretary, Dr Frannie Leautier, emphasised that: “For any society to transform itself
and achieve development results, it has to have six capabilities, which include
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100