Distance Learning Module 16 - Hydro-Capacity Building


BEST CAPACITY BUILDING AND TRAINING IN WATER ISSUES


  • Define precisely what is meant by capacity building (on-the-job training, laboratory work, office work, university education, remedial education, etc.).

  • Build the capacity of local officials, technicians, and scientists so that they can monitor, assess, and manage the water resources of the country.

  • Use the Distance Learning Modules provided by the Afghanistan Studies Center from the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) for some remedial and exploratory assessment to learn new things about water, as well as to find out what is needed.

  • Think of new areas in dealing with all the many aspects of water and transmit that information to UNO so that we can make new DLMs to answer more questions.

  • Provide additional training, equipment, and supplies if you have a budget for that.

  • Strengthen existing institutions (offices, labs, classrooms, field work, etc.).

  • Establish a national water-quality laboratory.

  • Develop a national water-resources database.

  • Building trusting partnerships takes time and is required for needed, high-level political backing.

  • People come and go, but systems remain. 

  • Put processes before products. 

  • Donor flexibility and long-term commitment is helpful.

  • Donor coordination is needed for salary harmonization between local and foreign aid workers. 

  • Choose pragmatic and basic solutions.  

  • Gender is also a human-resource issue. 

  • Nation-building should be based on a decent, non-ideological education. 

  • Plans are statements of will and self-confidence that you are capable of doing something. 

  • Sustained financial support is a must for achieving national-development objectives in capacity building. 

  • Find out what needs to be fixed and figure out how to raise the capacity where it is needed.

  • Who needs more education and how can it be accomplished without embarrassing anyone (everyone can be taught or trained a little more)?

  • Find out what will motivate people to raise their capacity (ask them in private).

  • Request help in certain areas of water where you are uncertain of what you need.

table17.1


REFERENCE

Holland, D., 2010. Capacity building through policy making: Developing Afghanistan’s National Education Strategic Plan. AREU (Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit) Briefing Paper Series; 20 pages.    



Distance Learning Module #16 Sample Questions (click here)