Implementation – Capacity Development

21.1 Why is capacity development important to municipal managers?

The greater the capacity of a municipality, the more likely it is to succeed in developing and sustaining effective PPPs. PPPs represent a new field, requiring new skills (and inevitably some organisational change) as municipal functions are delegated to the private sector and the role of the municipality changes. A basic level of capacity development is essential. In some cases, however, the private sector, which traditionally has better knowledge and skills, needs to develop its capacity. This is especially the case in countries with a low level of private sector activity. This toolkit describes a capacity development process.

Urban service delivery requires the management of resources, such as:

financial resources (capital and operational);
natural resources (water, basic building materials and so on);
physical resources (transport, equipment and so on);
social resources (communities and NGO participation); and
human resources (a skilled, motivated workforce and other stakeholders).

Managers at all levels will need to forecast, allocate and control these resources. Investments are required to develop their full potential. Limited human resources (in terms of number, attitude, focus, skill, knowledge or experience) can lead to poor productivity and participation, resulting in higher unit costs in basic urban services.

Just as the technical delivery of urban services has changed to take a more demand-led approach, capacity development has also been developing its approach to meet the needs of organisations. Investment in the development of people is now targeted to meet institutional strategies and management targets for the delivery of services.

A key change in the way municipalities are expected to work is their level of interaction with citizens, especially those residing in poor areas, slums and informal settlements. This requires different skills and knowledge and a shift in traditional attitudes towards service delivery and participation. These changes in turn will demand appropriate internal employee and managerial capacity and the development of partnerships with other stakeholders, for example NGOs.

The involvement of the private sector, especially those organisations with vision, can provide an opportunity to implement cohesive capacity development to ensure that people are reaching their full potential.