7th IFAD/NGO Consultation, Rome, Italy, 1996

Capacity-Building at the Local Level

The seventh Consultation took place in June 1996, and was attended by 32 NGOs, 19 of which were from developing countries. The theme was linked to the previous year's focus on land degradation and poverty. The recommendations of the Consultation were then conveyed to the Forum on Local Area Development Programmes (LADPs), which was organized jointly by IFAD and the Interim Secretariat of the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD). Participants discussed the challenges NGOs face when working with governments in the attempt to influence sectoral policies. Participants at the Consultation stated that challenges included government lack of appreciation of civil-society organizations, conflict between short and long-term perspectives, inadequate government attention to institution-building and lack of NGO capacity.

The following recommendations emerged:

• People at the local level should choose their own development partners and make decisions on priorities after analysing their own situation.
• Emphasis should be on developing people's — particularly women's — capacity to negotiate.
• Governments should decentralize policies, enhance communication and information dissemination, and provide vocational training programmes for local communities.
• Government and donor agencies' work should be more closely coordinated, thereby encouraging and sustaining NGO initiatives to strengthen local capacity.