Recent literature discusses aid effectiveness and
impact in relation to capacity building programmes, rather than
technical assistance. To ensure coverage of the latest evidence and
learning, this rapid review adopts the same approach. It finds that
there is a dearth of rigorous evaluations of capacity building
interventions.
This
is due to a lack of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) in the field, conceptual
confusion in the literature and a tendency to view capacity building as an “end
in itself” rather than a “means to an end”. Nevertheless, there is a large
literature documenting good practice for effective capacity building.
This review discusses five best practices where there is strong consensus in the literature, ensuring country ownership, recognising and responding to complexity, improving delivery of technical assistance, involving different levels of government, as well as non-state actors and focusing on results. The selected key sources in Section 4 provide further evidence and learning on capacity building effectiveness and impact.
