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CAPACITY 2015
The goal of Capacity 2015 is to develop the capacities needed by developing countries and countries in transition to meet their sustainable development goals under Agenda 21 and the Millennium Development Goals. The name Capacity 2015 reflects this link with the MDGs and the global commitment to results by 2015 that they represent. Capacity 2015 will orient and support a number of key capacity development initiatives, including developing capacities for local sustainable development, sustainable development strategies, local capacity development for Multilateral Environmental Agreements and developing capacities to reduce vulnerability in small island developing states. Operating globally and nationally, Capacity 2015 will help developing and transition countries ensure co-ordination, mutual support and maximum synergies among partners’ capacity development efforts.
The global community needs to recognise and build upon the successes of many local-level sustainable development initiatives in the past decade. While local groups and governments cannot do everything on their own – and Capacity 2015 will not focus solely at the local level – sustainable development in coming years will be determined first and foremost by progress at the local level. This is the level where real improvement in natural resource management and biodiversity conservation, or in health services and sanitation, must happen. Local actors will need national and global support to develop the capacities they need to make them happen.
Capacity 2015 has been conceived as a broad “platform”. The foundation of the platform is the principles, experience and good practices that have been developed over the last ten years by Capacity 21 and other capacity development initiatives and an approach to capacity development that has proven effective.
Capacity 2015 is based on the following principles:
>> Local and national actors need to achieve ownership, defining their own needs and implementing their own solutions.
>> Capacity development is an ongoing process of transformation.
>> Urgent short-term poverty concerns and longer-term sustainability issues cannot be effectively addressed in isolation from one another: they require carefully integrated responses.
>> Civic engagement and sound participatory processes are key elements in the design, implementation and monitoring of social, economic, and environmental policies and practices.
>> The approach should be universal but flexible, allowing for different emphases in response to varying sustainable development priorities among different communities and countries.
>> Work should be through partnerships and strategic alliances, emphasizing the key role of networking in knowledge acquisition.
>> Capacity development must include the development of the necessary enabling environments at all levels.
>> Existing capacities need to be developed, not replaced.
>> Cultural identities and values need to be recognized and respected.
A central feature of Capacity 2015 will be countries, institutions and individuals learning together and sharing knowledge through a dedicated learning network. This will ensure that lessons learned in one place will rapidly be shared and used, and that anyone will be able to develop strategies and plans drawing on a world of experience. The learning network will build on and extend UNDP’s knowledge network and its global network of policy advisors.
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