A new paradigm for capacity development

The post-2015 development agenda — the follow up framework to the Millennium Development Goals — emphasizes sustainability and local ownership.

This calls into question the development community’s reliance on what Deloitte Consulting LLP has described as “an outdated capacity building paradigm” — one based on individual training and skills building.

Recognizing the lack of a clear, systematic way to build capacity, Deloitte adapted its commercial human capital practices and field-based experience to the unique global development context. The resulting approach — CYPRESS, which stands for Capacity Performance, Results, Sustainability — provides a roadmap so that counterparts can focus on sustainable, measurable performance.

But what have we learned from interventions so far? What successes have been achieved? And what can the global development community learn about making the shift from capacity building to sustainable performance improvement?

In this exclusive Devex webinar, Deloitte's Wendy Carr and Molly Loomis field a series of questions from webinar participants and give their thoughts on the ways global development practitioners can make this paradigm shift the “new normal” — through measures such as empowering counterparts, influencing stakeholders, and creating resources for change management, among others.

Click on the video above to watch the webinar in full. Any questions not addressed in this session can be sent to webinars@devex.com.

For more information on capacity development and CYPRESS, read the article featured on Devex earlier this month sponsored by Deloitte Consulting LLP, entitled "Forget capacity development — focus on sustainable performance improvement."

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