CAPACITY BUILDING IN PRACTICE:

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CAPACITY BUILDING IN PRACTICE EXPERIENCES AND
CHALLENGES MET World Trade Organization - Geneva
A presentation by Canada November 6-7, 2002
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Overview

• Canadas experience
• What was missing? What was wrong?
• Adjustment in Canadas approach - Why?
• Lessons learned
• Donors and beneficiaries possible avenues for
  change
• What it means for beneficiaries/donors
• An example

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Canadas experience

• Canada provides international technical
  assistance and capacity building
• Valuation, Origin, HS
• Valuation
• Assisted 15 countries since 1997
• 10 more countries planned in near future

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Canadas traditional approach

• In past, mostly technical assistance activities
• One-off courses
• Seminars
• Minimal communication with other donors

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What was missing? What was wrong?

• Needs analysis not thorough enough
• Practical examples missing
• Recipient infrastructure to sustain effort was
  weak
• Inconsistency between messages of different
  trainers
• Organization changes trainees are displaced
• Commitment and readiness for change lacking

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Adjustment in Canadas approach - Why?

• Need full commitment from recipient
• Valuation agreement trade facilitating need many
  stakeholders
• Lasting change effort required
• Recognize Impacts customs, traders, other
  government departments
• Need to identify challenges of implementation at
  the outset
• Need to focus on ability of the beneficiaries to
  help themselves

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Lessons learned

• Need to invest in capacity building
• Create a Technical Assistance Framework
• Assistance must be
• demand-driven
• geared to capacity building
• based on a plan
• in partnership with recipient and stakeholders
• Objectives must enhance capacity and ownership
• Deliver through partnerships regional,
  multilateral, bilateral
• Involve business and other government departments

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Lessons learned

• Assist recipients in assessing needs and
  priorities
• Listen to recipients
• Integrate in larger customs reform and
  modernization project
• Use knowledge and skill transfer approaches
• Encourage country to
• Develop staff and own expertise
• Institutionalize through written
  policies/procedures
• Partner with traders
• Must conduct evaluation/post-implementation
  follow-up
• No one size fits all

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Donors and beneficiaries possible avenues for
change

• Framework for prioritizing demands
• Multi-year plan
• Structured approach of cooperation traders,
  donors, recipients, international and regional
  organizations
• More emphasis on beneficiary ownership in needs
  identification
• Improve evaluation mechanisms

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What it means for beneficiaries

• Taking more responsibility
• Place request in broader national context
• Select appropriate staff involved in change
  effort
• Involve private sector in implementation
• Cascade knowledge and skills
• Lead on implementation and monitoring of plans
• Evaluate progress peer assessments

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What it means for donors

• Need to change approach
• Coordinate better work with other donors
• Adopt new principles
• Foster participation of stakeholders
• Embrace capacity building
• Improve own skills building institutions, needs
  analysis, group facilitation
• Systematic exchanges of each others programs and
  experiences
• Invest in follow-up and evaluation

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An example

• Customs Valuation capacity building in APEC
• Partnership Australia, New Zealand, USA
• Jointly planned, developed and implemented
  technical assistance and capacity building
• Modular but comprehensive approach to knowledge
  and skills transfer
• Needs analyzed using diagnostic tools
• Obtained commitment for change at high level
• Coordinated efforts reduced costs and
  duplication
• Worked with banker APEC Secretariat

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An example (ctnd)

• Customs Valuation capacity building in APEC
• 3 Modules developed
• Infrastructure of the Valuation Program
• Complexities of the Agreement
• Post-importation environment

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The way forward

• Pursue aggressive timetable for a comprehensive
  capacity building strategy in customs valuation
• More cooperation amongst donors
• Define role of all partners and stakeholders in
  capacity building

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In short

• Identification of needs
• Commitment to change
• Key to success