Building Capacity

We all are for it. Building the capacity of our partners is a major programme strategy.

And surely there must be people who know how to go about it. Probably in OLDS. After all, aren’t they paid to build the capacity of our own staff?

Not quite. The technical knowledge will always have to come from the content experts. But how many of our HQ staff consider monitoring and building staff capacity to be part of their responsibility? Twenty or so years ago it was a standard item in virtually everyone’s job description. Now, preparing or reviewing training materials ranks among the most dreaded assignments, to be avoided whenever possible. Drafting facilitator notes, making up case studies, revising PowerPoints, and designing group exercises is as punishing as it can get.

We look at training materials when we have time has been a common response from the über-cool. Not good for an organization that tries to disburse not only ever increasing amounts of funds, but also the knowledge on how best to use public resources for children

(8 April 2005)

previous         next