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Transcript of 1 Capacity Development at the World Bank Some thoughts from the Bank Task Force on CD in Africa Mark...
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Capacity Development at the World Bank
Some thoughts from the
Bank Task Force on CD in Africa
Mark Nelson, World Bank Institute
Member of World Bank Task Force on
Capacity Development in Africa
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Why the taskforce?
Set up in response to demand by World Bank President and Executive Directors
Not a typical World Bank report: Focus on wider body of capacity development work—by the Bank, other donors and African countries
Strong push to extract lessons of good practice wherever they were found and pushing the frontiers of knowledge
Importance of building consensus on the findings, particularly in Africa
Need to reach a diverse audience: Africa and international community, and within that, the World Bank—part of a larger global effort
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Our approach
We have learned from diverse sources:
Exhaustive literature review: 150 studies and reports 14 case studies
Desk reviews of Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, and Uganda
In-depth field studies of Botswana, Burkina, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malaysia and Sri Lanka (the last two for comparison)
Six thematic and sectoral reviews: Public financial management; public service reform; health; local governance and decentralization; Regional bodies; Rapid results approaches
World Bank review: capacity development portfolio Consultations: African institutions and intellectuals
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1. Why capacity development and why now?
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Capacity: Critical for growth & MDGs Africa lags other regions in growth, human
development, MDGs Evidence suggests that capacity—skills, incentives,
resources, organizational systems, and the rules of the game—matters The capacity of individuals, organizations and institutions to set
goals and achieve them The capacity to budget resources and use them for agreed
purposes The capacity to manage the complex processes and interactions
of a working economic and political system
The challenge is to unleash, nurture and retain capacity and create a political environment that encourages
participation, excellence, learning and innovation….
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Capacity is the missing link
Over the past 15 years… Macroeconomic stability has
returned to most countries Social and structural
policies have improved Significant improvements in
governance and political environments
But capacity remains an enduring challenge
Skills: availability, utilization and retention
Organizational effectiveness Institutional framework
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Why Capacity Now?Africans are setting the pace
PRSs, peer review and stronger country ownership offer new opportunities for capacity development
Progressive liberalization raises new demands for better governance, better services, decentralization, and regional engagement to preserve peace and security
Partners put Africa and capacity at center stage G8: New resources along with good governance UK Commission and UN Millennium Project
Africa urgently requires new capacities to govern more complex and open societies…..
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2. Key lessons from the report
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Capable states and engaged societies are critical to achieving results
Effective states…Deliver public goods and
servicesProvide an enabling
environment for growth and development
Ensure peace and security
Engaged societies… Participate in public
decision-making Contribute to provision
of public goods and services
Hold authorities accountable
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Effective states and engaged societies are needed to achieve development goals
END GOAL
S
CAPACITY OUTCOMES
CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES
Growth, poverty reduction, peace,
empowerment
Effective state: Public goods and
services
Engaged society: Participation, accountability
Skills, professionalismPerformance, incentivesGood governance
Capable social actorsInformation / accessOpen policy / space
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Capacity development is largely a governance challenge
Earlier technocratic approaches to CD tended to ignore link between good governance and policy environment, on one hand, and capacity development and its effective use, on the other
Capacity takes root where incentives are favorable, dwindles where incentives are perverse
Capacity development means promoting effective states that are responsive and accountable to
engaged societies….
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Capacity development requiresdifferent paths in different contexts
Approaches will vary from country to country depending on:
Existing capacity
Political and administrative leadership
Extent of societal engagement in decision making
Countries make the choices of appropriate paths and sequencing
No ‘one size fits all’…..
State effectiveness
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…but good practices can be learned and scaled up
Public service reform Public financial management Decentralization Improving the investment climate
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New opportunities, mutual responsibilities
African countries Take the lead in CD and aid
management Focus on unleashing, nurturing
and retaining existing capacity along with better use of local talent and engagement of the Diaspora
Place priority on country capacity to develop capacity: local institutions
Develop robust monitoring and evaluation with a focus on results
External partners Avoid capacity-draining
practices like project implementation units and excessive use of external consultants
Deliver a higher and more predictable level of support to well designed capacity development initiatives
Adapt CD interventions to diverse country circumstances
Accept mutual accountability and independent monitoring
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What should be expected of African countries?
Defining capacity development as core objective of homegrown strategies
Frank diagnosis, including governance constraints, and open review processes
Prioritized action with entry points and trajectories explicitly identified
Leading aid coordination and alignment of donor support
Emphasis on knowledge networks, regional bodies, and peer learning through NEPAD
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What should be expected of international partners?
Respect and give space to African leadership Implement Paris Declaration with emphasis on CD Support new areas of capacity development Improve analysis and advice on capacity issues Make aid modalities more capacity sensitive Focus on results Be prepared to finance scaling up
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3. Walking the talk at the World Bank
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Walking the talk: How the Bank should update its approach (1)
1. A stronger country focus for capacity development in Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) and appropriate monitoring frameworks
2. Doing more on the demand side Opening up Bank diagnostic processes (e.g. PERs) to social actors and partners Support transparency and access to performance information (e.g. budgets) Strengthening formal institutions of accountability (e.g. audit agencies) Supporting capacity of social actors to participate
3. Doing business differently Maximum use of country systems Pooling technical assistance and redirecting TA towards capacity development Greater reliance on programmatic instruments Financing of recurrent expenditures, e.g., to allow support of pay reform
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Walking the talk: How the Bank should update its approach (2)
4. Support “knowledge institutions” and skills Support science and technology Tertiary education
5. Fund more regional and sub-regional initiatives Capacity for delivery of regional public goods Peer learning and review initiatives Develop vertical instruments for grant funding through African intermediaries
6. Strengthen the results focus of capacity development work Further innovation in the benchmarking of capacity development Greater investment in country M&E systems More independent monitoring of performance of all partners
7. Provide strong management leadership within the Bank Focal points for coordination in capacity development Improve staff skills and incentives Strengthen knowledge management and learning
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Capacity: What is it in Bank operations? Input side: training, technical assistance (consultants),
equipment (roughly $1 billion a year at the Bank) Workshops, seminars, study tours South-South exchanges (Shanghai) Computers, air conditioners(?), buildings(??)….
Results side: much broader range of outcomes are sought Improved policies, incentive systems Improved performance of key organizational structures Higher skills and knowledge of key personnel
Project management side: getting the job done, by-passing local bureaucracies PMUs/PIUs Improved incentives, salaries for staff of PMUsNot surprisingly, capacity development or institution building is
claimed as development objective of close to three-fourths of Bank projects.
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But project design rarely reflects clear capacity development focus
Capacity inputs are not clearly spelled out or costed
Target of intervention is not clear Links between inputs and CD goals is not
clear Benchmarks are not established Indicators do not show intermediate steps or
even end goals PMUs and external consultants are the norm
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A proposal: focus on organizations
Organizations are the key building blocks of country action
Individual effectiveness is defined and enhanced by high performing organizations
Organizations can be major players in changing the overall environment, incentive systems and institutions
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What does organizational focus mean?
Targeting organizational outputs, not inputs Good diagnostics to understand the context
Can needed changes be implemented? Can operation be successful given context?
Benchmarks to define current outputs, performance level
What level of performance is being sought? Are there norms—local, international—that can be agreed?
Indicators for intermediate steps and long-term goals
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Why we stand a better chance now
A new context: More international focus on the capacity issue, new resources
A new set of leaders and democratic change in some key countries, NEPAD and other regional efforts
The Paris Declaration: a renewed focus on capacity development with specific targets
…but this agenda requires leadership, management focus, new incentives and resources in the World Bank
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