Capacity Development

Capacity Development in Africa

Africa's development situation has seen notable progress in many areas in recent years, with several countries showing steadily improving political and economic conditions. Multi-party electoral systems are increasingly becoming the norm, and real gross domestic product has been growing steadily in parts of the continent as a result of the dramatic increases in oil, mineral, and some commodity prices. However, the peace and security situation is fragile, and enormous development challenges persist. Constraints on individual capacities and institutional weaknesses are reflected in the very limited capacity for planning, management, budgeting and accounting for results by local authorities across the region.

Implementing effective programmes and improving the delivery of public services requires meaningful partnerships among communities, the central government, the private sector and civil society organisations, all of whom face significant capacity deficiencies. Addressing these gaps is essential for the consolidation of democracy, good governance and accelerated pro-poor growth. Capacities of African higher education and research institutions to foster participatory local development and support achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) must be strengthened. There is also a growing need to better manage revenue flows, including ODA and remittances, and to channel more of these resources into basic service delivery.

Regional Strategies
UNDP's regional capacity strategy for Africa is premised on the need to address capacity constraints at all levels on a sustained basis, with a special emphasis on working through partnerships to promote inclusive economic growth and human development across the continent.

• In Liberia, UNDP supported government ministries in designing a 10-year national capacity development strategy and action plan.
• In Malawi, UNDP helped assess the capacities of nine ministries with a view to improving management and service delivery in the water sector.
• In northern Ghana, UNDP launched a pilot rural sustainable livelihoods project to adapt the capacity assessment methodology to the local village setting, including language and cultural nuances.
• In The Gambia, Central African Republic, Senegal, Nigeria and Guinea-Bissau, demand directed via UNDP Country Offices revolved around capacity development for aid coordination and management mechanisms to better track aid flows and their contribution to national development objectives.
• At the regional level, UNDP supports the Sustainability, Education and the Management of Change (SEMCA) partnership, a knowledge-sharing platform designed to give African universities a more central role in agricultural development.