Development Aspects Impressum Editors

Lessons learned

The systematic approach that was implemented by the international partners proved effective. The initial inquiries brought out the issues faced by the multiple stakeholders in the towns and provided a good basis for designing the capacity development interventions. The partnership with the local capacity builder that included the training, monitoring and coaching of the facilitators ensured the de- livery of participatory and action-oriented learning. Although the programme of CD interventions was somewhat curtailed by resource constraints, it did retain its resolve to address all issues, bring together all stakeholders and enhance their capacities for preparing and implementing action plans directed at sustainable and equitable delivery of water, sanitation and environmental services. The conclu- sion of the project through the top-level consultations provided an opportunity to showcase successful action plans and to call upon key stakeholders to enable and commit to the more complex plans.

A key to success was the partnership of UN-HABITAT, the four international partners and the local capacity builder. This partnership was built on shared objec- tives and a common approach to CD, on respect for the mandate, expertise and experience of each partner and on the principle of equality of the partners that was practised throughout the project. This partnership was able to build on, improve and expand the quality of the relationships with and between the 11 towns and all the stakeholder groups that had been initiated by UN-HABITAT in the investment phase of the project. Basing the project on the realities found on the ground and the practical and action-oriented nature of the CD interventions helped to cement good relations between the towns and the developing partners.

The partners also faced some challenges. One was that the cooperation be- tween partner organizations that are rooted in different experiences and conti- nents, and between their natural and social scientists requires a strong coordinator on issues of content and logistics, frequent partnership meetings and a particular attention to team dynamics. Another challenge was to deal with the mostly in- evitable staff changes among the partners and in some cases with staff deficien- cies. This was overcome by regular reviews of each individual’s performance by the partners, good documentation of the project and access to these records, the transfer of experience from one staff member to the next one by the concerned partner, and by flexibility in allocating the coordination role between partner or- ganizations.

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