• The Principal Implementing actors
• Criteria for selecting Government implementing agency
• Criteria for selecting implementing partners
• Strengths and weaknesses of different types of implementing partners
• What types of capacity-building should the project plan for?
• When and how to organize an Advisory and Selection Committee
  

What types of capacity-building should the project plan for?

To have an accurate response to this question, it is recommended that the government implementing agency conduct an organizational assessment of the potential implementing partners. This can either be done before or after they are contracted. You will likely get more accurate results if it is done after the NGO has been contracted, otherwise the NGO may do its best to hide its weaknesses for fear that they will undermine its chances of winning the contract. There are a number of organizational assessment tools out there, and some national and international NGOs specialize in assessing and building the organizational capacity of civil society organizations (see the Pact Website, The Organizational Capacity Assessment Tool (OCAT) and its' annex). The assessments usually look at several dimensions of organizational management, including governance, program and financial planning and management, human resource management, and fund-raising. An assessment team will review organizational documents, meet with board, staff, and beneficiaries, and visit projects. On the basis of this two-to-five day process, they will rank the organization on a series of management indicators, identifying organizational strengths and weaknesses.

The cost of this process will vary from one place to another depending primarily upon the fees charged by the consultants to be used. To estimate the cost, assume two consultants for five days each; travel costs to relevant NGO site and up to three days per diem; minimal copy, telephone, and supplies cost. It will likely cost $2,500-8,000 per assessment, with the low estimate assuming local consultants and no travel, and the high estimate assuming that an international consultant must be brought in (see TOR for Organizational Assessment).

Once an organizational capacity assessment has been completed on each partner, the results can be consolidated and an appropriate capacity-building training package can be developed to address common weaknesses identified. Training and technical assistance will likely be required in the following areas: project planning, procurement, accounting and financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and in some cases governance to ensure that selected implementing agencies are governed in a transparent and democratic manner.

In many African countries, where the NGO sector is not well developed, it is likely to be difficult to find local sources of capacity-building services. International sources include individuals, private consulting and training firms, and NGOs, such the US-based Pact, which specializes in organizational capacity assessments and capacity building services. When possible, it is better to find an organization that is capable of delivering the full package of services required rather than to contract these capacity-building services piecemeal. An integrated package of services increases the chances that all the training modules build upon each other and combine to create a management system that will serve the NGOs and CBOs for years to come. Ideally, the capacity building should involve training of trainers to make sure that at the end of the day there are human resources available locally to continue strengthening civil society and local government partners.