Building the Capacity of Community Organizations

Project Communication Managemet

Communication for Participatory Approach and Transparency to Development Actions and Policies

Community groups, in addition to lacking sufficient funds to begin their own development efforts, frequently lack adequate organizational, administrative, and technical skills to design and implement such activities. Task Managers and their government counterparts have sought to assess and build this capability within Bank-financed projects.

Assessing Capacity

Several social funds have included institutional assessments of community organizations during subproject appraisal or even earlier to determine the degree to which these organizations are operating in a participatory manner.

Indicators of Capacity

The Social Investment Fund in Ecuador used a set of indicators to determine the institutional strength of community organizations, including: " Internal process and regular leadership renewal " Degree to which members control and audit the use of funds " Degree of physical participation of members in the communal activity " Degree to which members participate in organizational decisions " Administrative capabilities of the organization " Technical capacity of the organization (education level, special courses, and training of leadership and members) " Degree to which members are able to handle required technology by themselves.

Providing Training

Training community organizations can empower them to better identify and prioritize their needs and develop strategies to meet them, begin microprojects, and sustain their development efforts once outside assistance is withdrawn. Training can be provided by project staff or subcontracted to NGOs or other local organizations experienced in community-level programs.

Branching Out

Once groups have become skilled in tasks required for their participation in the project activities, they can go on to undertake other development activities on their own. Many of the women's working groups that sprang up during the course of the Tamil Nadu Integrated Nutrition project to promote better health and nutrition practices in the villages later began food processing to supply the feeding supplement under the project. This had the advantage of contributing to income and employment opportunities. Women's groups that first mobilized around health, were the predecessors of the women's cooperatives and societies that later formed around larger-scale and diverse activities. Apparently their organizational capacities were strengthened to the point that they could begin activities outside the project.