Capacity building in the Commonwealth

‘Wynette’s Hair Salon’ attracts a large number of customers from the local community near New Amsterdam in Guyana.

Whenever there is a “big event” in the area, Wynette Trim has to hire two assistants “to handle the increased volume of clients.” In the near future, the young entrepreneur also intends to offer house calls.

Ms Trim was given a loan of G$140,000 [£329] from the Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre to help her set up this small business, which now brings in G$25,000 [£59] a month.

“I am confident that an entrepreneurial culture can help to reverse the unemployment situation facing Guyana,” said Ms Trim, who believes that the business she set up is contributing to the economic life of the community.

In September 2007 the Commonwealth Youth Programme launched a Plan of Action for working with young people across the 53 member states. The Commonwealth Youth Credit Initiative (CYCI), which provides loans, training, education and business support for unemployed young men and women, like Ms Trim, is part of the action plan.

This initiative was piloted in Zambia, India, Guyana and Solomon Islands, and has since been replicated in a further 12 countries. In India alone nearly 1,000 people gained functional literacy through the project and 9,000 have been exposed to health awareness camps and exhibitions.

“The CYCI programme is one way of showing young people that if they don’t have a job they can still do something for themselves,” Ms Trim added.

This project and other work which the Commonwealth Secretariat is involved in are often referred to as ‘capacity building.’

Mary Hilderbrand, a Research Associate at the Harvard Institute for International Development and Merilee Grindle, the Edward S Mason Professor of International Development at the John F Kennedy School of Government define ‘capacity’ as the “ability to perform appropriate tasks effectively, efficiently and sustainably.”

The Secretariat’s ‘capacity building’ work, therefore, aspires towards ensuring that individuals, organisations and countries in the Commonwealth have sufficient “ability to perform” their respective goals.

For example, in Namibia, the Commonwealth helped develop the aquaculture sector -- fish and seafood farming -- which has the potential to boost export earnings. Developing the country’s ability to manage and plan in this area as well as expanding the activities around the unpolluted waters off the coast of Namibia are two main aims of this ‘capacity building’ project.

Combating corruption is another area which the Secretariat’s ‘capacity building’ work addresses. One workshop organised in September 2006, with 24 officials from 16 countries, specifically focused on tackling corruption in public organisations, whistle blowing and business ethics.

Technical assistance has also been provided in Malta to improve the country’s primary healthcare records and psychiatric outpatients systems. Since this ‘capacity building’ assistance was given, results include improved management of patients records and pilot projects being introduced to improve record keeping.

Simona Milio, a Research Fellow at the Economic Social Cohesion Laboratory (London School of Economics) and Teacher in European Political Economy says that “Capacity Building is the process through which the abilities to perform a function, solve a problem or achieve an objective, are obtained, strengthened, adapted and maintained over time.”

Dr Milio’s research is related to institutional, political and administrative ‘capacity building’ at both the national and regional level. She adds: “Capacity Building aims to reduce the gap between existing capacity and the capacity that is required in order to successfully achieve a set objective.”

“Reducing the gap” in the shortage of legislative drafters in developing countries was a key concern raised by Commonwealth Law Ministers in 2002. They asked the Secretariat to develop programmes that build the ‘capacity’ or ability of legislative drafters in member states. In 2006 there was a three-month course organised for legislative drafters in Africa. Another course to train drafters from the Caribbean took place in January 2007.

In the Pacific, the Secretariat is working with the University of South Pacific and the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat regarding the shortage of trained drafters in the region.

“The ultimate goal is to provide sufficient legislative drafting to meet the needs of a country,” explains Tony Lawson, Head of the Law Drafting Unit at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

Mr Lawson argues that ‘capacity building’ is “putting in place particular mechanisms which allow countries to deal with issues without support. Unless a country has the capacity to handle a whole range of issues, it will never be able to determine its own future.”

This partnership is addressing legislative drafting by dealing with recruitment, training, support and retention. The framework they developed aims to give countries the ability to meet their own drafting needs efficiently and maintain this ability over time, thus improving their self reliance in this specialised area of law.

Whether providing loans to young entrepreneurs, helping governments enhance their export earnings or ensuring a country has enough legislative drafters, the Secretariat’s ‘capacity building’ work aims to give citizens and countries in the Commonwealth the ability to perform tasks effectively, without support and for a sustained period of time.

Key Links:

• Law
• Youth
• Commonwealth Youth Programme Caribbean Centre