Capacity building Association takes root in East Africa
APODEA (Association for Practicing OD in East Africa) clarified its purpose and objectives in September 2010, which included the formation of country chapters in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Such country fora are being initiated by graduates of a course offered by EASUN since 1997, i.e., Facilitating Organization Development (FOD), particularly those who continued to attend EASUN Associates’ meetings. However, the meetings will remain open to other (non-OD) practitioners and institutions that wish to explore capacity development practices characterized by transformational values.
Immediate benefits of country chapters will include 1) sharing of information; 2) documenting practice related experiences of individual members; 3) professional peer support; 4) and referral systems for consultancy work; 5) feeding APODEA as a platform of exchange, learning and advocacy.
APODEA was born in EASUN Associates’ workshop held in 2008 in Tanga, Tanzania. Subsequent meetings have been held yearly since then. Activities of the association are managed by a ‘carrying group’ composed of representatives from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
APODEA Uganda chapter seeks to be a model for others in the region
Jackline Kabahinda, who is also co-convener of the APODEA carrying group, took the initiative to organize Uganda chapter’s inaugural meeting on 17th December 2010, in Kampala. Looking toward its own growth, the meeting appealed for consistency among its members in order to keep the chapter alive. The initial response was enthusiastic, as demonstrated by the spirit of those attending the meeting who, among other things, recommended that APODEA should organize regular activities that instil practice values in its members, particularly those related to OD as an approach to capacity development.
Specific actions agreed upon in the meeting of 17th December include:- Document professional profiles of members as a resource for outsourcing and peer support
- Form a Facebook anchor, which members will be invited to join
- Draft a code of conduct that will instill the values associated with the APODEA vision of good practice in capacity development of civil society organizations
Enthusiastic support for the Uganda chapter meeting included expressions of appreciation for the convener’s initiative and ability to sustain the interest of potential members:
“Thumbs up Jackie! Just read the comprehensive minutes that capture the future of APODEA Ugandan Chapter. May Psalm 91 be a prayer to see you through during 2011.” --Sarah Nambuya, Organisation & Community Development Facilitator, Kampala, Uganda.
Such encouragement was communicated also by other country chapters:
“Thank you Jackie, for sharing. This is a good step. Keep the fire alive. The Kenyan chapter members have agreed to meet on 27th January 2011.” --Joseph M’ Eruaki, CARITAS Meru, Kenya.
Reporting the Uganda chapter meeting in EASUN E-News is an example of a platform for sharing possible cases from the three countries where APODEA is present. Another example, of professional exchange through APODEA, was a recent case where two APODEA members offered assistance to a fellow practitioner who was seeking support with tools for developing a mission statement, in a situation where the client did not have sufficient time, but needed to engage meaningfully with the process of stating its foundational commitments as a civil society organization.
The next Uganda chapter meeting is scheduled to take place on 27th January 2011, while subsequent meetings will be held once a month. As Jacqueline Kabahinda told chapter members, “this will make APODEA a success, and the Ugandan Chapter a 'model' for others.” For more information on APODEA contact any of the two “carrying group” co-conveners: Jackline Kabahinda jkabahinda@yahoo.com and Jared Onyach jonyachsnr@yahoo.co.uk or alando.anyona@easun-tz.org
________________________________African civil society express their appreciation of a true development practitioner in the donor world
In international cooperation today, one may get frustrated by the increasing technocratic demands and related gradual erosion of influence by the South in forming and characterizing their development questions, or simply having the time to lead changes that are likely to transform local situations as needed. At the same time, the world is still making worthy collective effort to address challenges of poverty, marginalization and governance in Africa, the rest of the South, and the North.
One outstanding individual who has consistently worked hard to ensure and implement policies and approaches that allow room for empowerment of communities and their organizations in the South is Monika Hoffmann-Kuehnel who, for 31 years worked with the German development (and funding) organization EED, and its predecessor EZE, as East Africa programme coordinator. Says Monika in her letting go letter to EED partners in Africa: “The questions I carried with me at the beginning of my career all had to do with the assumption that ‘development’ ... had to be imported from the outside! Thanks to colleagues and partners who were struggling with the same doubts and unease, we have found and refined concepts and methodologies on how to become facilitators of people’s own development processes instead of doing “it” for them.”
Monika retired from her position in EED at the end of 2010. It has been positively overwhelming to see the amount of appreciative messages from African NGOs and churches sent to Monika at the time that she was relinquishing her formal role. EASUN joined the rest of civil society organizations that interacted with EED, to express its appreciation and best wishes for Monika. We share the views expressed by many, about her exemplary role in building and managing partnerships in ways that consistently upheld stated values of EED; reflected in enduring adherence to empowerment and mutual respect with partners in the South. At EASUN, we have particularly appreciated Monika’s unwavering personal agency in advocating developmental or human centred practices in capacity building and partnership relationships intended to support social development activities in Africa.
Monika is succeeded in her former role by Martin Groess, who has worked for many years in EED’s “Africa 2” department. Given his experienced in all aspects of EED’s international cooperation, African CSO partners of EED are encouraged to look forward to a friendly and enjoyable interaction with him.
________________________________Exploring CSO activism in a world of business triumphalism
In November 2010, two EASUN staff members joined PSO in the celebrations of its 25th anniversary. PSO is an Association of some fifty Dutch professional non-governmental organizations that focus on capacity building in developing countries. The celebrations took place in The Hague and were attended by PSO members, Diplomats, Representatives of the Dutch Government, and invited PSO partners.
In addition to attending the celebrations, EASUN staff also participated in joint meetings with two well known capacity development organizations from the South, i.e., CDRA (South Africa) and PRIA (India). The meetings also involved members of PSO’s International Advisory Board.
A glimpse at the Dutch donor challenge
Together with the host organization, participants in the celebrations visited the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where they meet with the government Director of Social Development. It emerged from the discussions that Dutch funding is now heading in the trendy direction of tendering for service delivery in social development activities. That is a reflection of real major shifts in the perception of development, which is increasingly being valued mainly as “sets of services”, and its effectiveness assessed in terms of whoever is capable of efficient service delivery and accounting procedures. Such shifts are already giving an advantage to financial powerhouses from the North (based in the South) and the private sector generally, who thrive on competitive bidding, compared to CSOs commitment to transformational values and practices.
The case of The Netherlands, which has for a long time remained among the most development friendly donors in the world, raises questions as to whether private sector oriented policies in development work influenced by political shifts in the West can be reversed, or if this indeed suggests the advent of permanent changes in the roles, identity, values of civil society organizations that wish to continue with development work supported with funds from the North!
Civil society growth is social development
One of the key note speakers at the celebrations in The Hague was Ilco van der Lind, co-founder of “Dance for Change”, an organization that is also a member of PSO. He appealed to development organizations to “stop thinking too much”, and act from the heart. He underlined the need to use more feelings and involve more people in development work.
One particular OD Associate of EASUN normally signs off her e-mail messages with the quote: “Be the change you wish to bring about.” Intervening to facilitate the development of others is, quite simply, a mission. We certainly need skills and resources to manage development work effectively and in a way that produces results. At its essence, however, being a development practitioner means changing to become worthy of the change one aspires to bring about in the situation.
Change that happens at the point of service provision alone has limited transformational value compared to development cultivated at the levels of culture. Social change interventions will therefore have very short term impact on poverty, governance and institutional capacities, if they are to be turned into businesses run by the “highest/lowest bidder”.
In national development situations, civil society organizations are more able to create civil spaces for social transformation, because they are driven by values that characterize the changes they wish to bring about in society. Key challenges to civil society in Africa today therefore include; 1) clarifying and strengthening values based institutional identity; 2) finding financial resources to continue interventions at the culture level, while also providing social services to communities in dire need; 3) strengthening collaboration between secular NGOs and faith based institutions, as an avenue for mobilizing resources for transformational development interventions.
Rajesh Tandon, President of PRIA (India) with over 30 years experience in Civil Society work was another key note speaker at the PSO celebrations. He observed that civil society must begin to work in close collaboration with governments and the private sector. Mr. Tandon has clearly established his credentials as a true development practitioner in the civil society sector. His words carry wisdom borne out of many years of struggle. At the same time, one needs to be aware of the possible corrupting influences on less charismatic CSO leaders who may enter such relationships without being sufficiently grounded in civil society values and identity.
Atieno Olwal (atieno.olwal@easun-tz.org) and Alando Anyona (alando.anyona@easun-tz,org) attended the PSO 25th Anniversary celebrations on behalf of EASUN.
________________________________This newsshot is also available at: www.easun-tz.org/enews/newsshot_11january2011.html
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