About Study

1.Background

Capacity development (CD) is an essential element for achieving development objectives. This has been widely recognized by partner countries and donors alike, as articulated in the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. CD has been placed high on the agenda for discussions and efforts for enhancing development and aid effectiveness.

This has led to increased attention on how to make technical cooperation (TC) more effective for CD. While many aid instruments are used to support CD, TC constitutes a major instrument for supporting CD. However, the effectiveness of TC has been perceived as mixed. Improvement of TC thus has been seen as one of the critical issues for operationalizing the new consensus on CD.

2.Purpose and Approach

The purpose of the study is to help move forward the current discussions and efforts for more effective TC for CD, by providing empirical evidence on how to make better use of TC as a part of the overall drive towards country-led CD. The study especially aims at providing inputs in the policy-level discussions at the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-3) at Accra in 2008, where CD will be one of the major items on the agenda. In order to obtain useful results for such purposes, the study emphasizes the following as its approach:

Country ownership and leadership

Country ownership and leadership is highlighted in the new consensus on CD. However, reflection of country views and experiences is still limited in the existing studies, most of which have been conducted by donors. The study intends to address this gap by ensuring full participation of partner countries and attaching importance to their ownership and leadership in the design, implementation, and management of the study.

Knowledge production and exchange

Knowledge production and exchange is an important element for promoting CD. The study aims at contributing to the knowledge production on effective TC for CD by learning from experiences on the ground and extracting lessons about what does and does not work and why. It also makes much of knowledge exchange, especially among partner countries. To facilitate this, the study includes activities such as national/international workshops and the establishment of a study website.

Examination of TC and its contribution to CD within a broader context

There is a growing recognition that TC and the nature of its contribution to CD needs to be examined from wider perspectives, within a broader context and efforts toward CD. This study attaches importance to examining effective TC for CD from such wider perspectives.

Identification of good practice

While problems associated with TC have been studied in some detail, successful examples have not been analyzed to the same degree. Further study of the latter is required to deepen analysis of effective TC for CD as well as to provide concrete examples of what works in ensuring actual results on the ground. From this viewpoint, the study places emphasis on identification and analysis of good practice.

Synergy with relevant initiatives

There are several on-going initiatives on CD and TC, including formulation of country policy and strategies for CD and/or TC. The study intends to seek synergies with these on-going initiatives. Similarly, the study makes the maximum use of the results of relevant existing studies.

3.Scope

The key broad questions that the study intends to answer for the above purpose are:

  • How can TC contribute to sustainable CD?
  • What are promoting and impeding factors for the contribution of TC to CD?
  • How can TC be more effectively utilized for promoting CD?
  • What issues need to be taken into consideration in CD under different country contexts and in different sectors/thematic areas?
  • What kind of actual good practice exists that can contribute to promoting international efforts for CD?
  • What actions are to be taken by both donors and partner countries to promote CD?

To answer these questions, country studies and a synthesis study will be conducted. Country studies examine the overall situation of TC; actual TC practices in a specific sector/thematic area; contributing and impeding factors that influence the results of TC in the sector/thematic area; and lessons-learned for effective TC for CD at the country level. The synthesis study, through cross-country analysis of the findings from the country studies, analyzes the situation of TC and its contribution to CD in a different country context and different sector/thematic areas; identifies good practice; and extracts lessons learned and recommendations at the global level to make TC more effective for CD.

The geographical focus of the study is on Asia and Africa. Countries for the study were selected, combining objective criteria such as inclusion of different types of countries and self-selection of the countries to ensure country demand and ownership.

4.Study Members

Members from partner countries are:
Asia Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, and Vietnam
Africa Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia

Donor members are ADB, BMZ, DfID, GTZ, Japan, UNDP, and World Bank.

5.Output

The outputs of the study are consisted of eleven country case study reports, a synthesis report and a booklet on good practice and lessons learned for the use of policy makers and practitioners. The outputs, especially the booklet, are intended for wider distribution on such occasions as the Accra HLF-3 and other policy-level meetings. All the study reports are now available and can be downloaded in this section.

> read more Output

6.Timeframe

October 2007
International workshop 1 (Bangkok)
October 2007-February 2008
Field studies in study countries
March 2008
Draft country study report
April 2008
International workshop 2 (Japan)
April-June 2008
Draft synthesis report
August 2008
Publication of final report and booklet
September 2008
Dissemination at the HLF-3

The progress of the study will be shared with wider stakeholders at such meetings as DAC WP-EFF, SPA (a plenary in February 2008) and TICAD IV (May 2008).