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A quick indicator of effectiveness of “capacity building” initiatives of NGOs and international organizations

European Journal of Government and Economics

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Title A quick indicator of effectiveness of “capacity building” initiatives of NGOs and international organizations
 
Creator Lempert, David
 
Subject Capacity building; institution building; governance; civil society; development policy
D02; P48; L31; O17
 
Description The article offers an easy-to-use indicator for scholars and practitioners to measure whether NGOs, international organizations, and government policies and projects meet the criteria for design and implementation of “capacity building” projects that have been established by various international organizations and that are recognized by experts in the field. The indicator can be used directly to address failures that are routinely reported in this key and growing development intervention. Use of this indicator on more than a dozen standard interventions funded today by international development banks, UN organizations, country donors, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) reveals that while many smaller organizations are working to change institutions and society in ways that effectively build long-term capacity, most of the major actors in the field of development have failed to follow their own guidelines. Many appear to be using “capacity building” as a cover for lobbying foreign governments to promote international agendas (“purchasing foreign officials”) and/or to increase the power of particular officials at the expense of democracy, with the public lacking simple accountability tools. The indicator points to specific areas for holding development actors accountable in order to promote development goals of sustainability and good governance. The breadth of the field of “capacity building” also allows this indicator to be used, with some modifications, for a large variety of development interventions. This article also offers several examples of where current capacity building projects fail, along with a sample test of the indicator using UNCDF as a case study.
 
Publisher Europa Grande
 
Contributor —
 
Date 2015-12-30
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier http://www.ejge.org/index.php/ejge/article/view/63
 
Source European Journal of Government and Economics; Vol 4, No 2 (2015); 155-196
2254-7088
 
Language eng
 
Relation http://www.ejge.org/index.php/ejge/article/view/63/59
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2015 David Lempert
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0