The debate on the effectiveness of technical cooperation has been particularly lively in the early 1990s. Efforts, including the UNDP study "Rethinking Technical Cooperation", the Conference on Technical Cooperation in June 1994 and the OECD/DAC vision for Shaping the 21st Century, have helped to generate a welcome new emphasis on the need for development to be "locally owned": to ensure that development cooperation does not seek to undertake initiatives for developing countries and their people, but with them.

In early 2001, the United Nations Development Programme launched the Reforming Technical Cooperation for Capacity Development initiative to take a fresh look at the fundamentals of capacity development, and how external cooperation can best contribute to the development of lasting indigenous capacities.

The initiative is supported by the Netherlands and has developed a wide range of partnerships. It has adopted a process that allows ample dialogue with development stakeholders, including an interactive website, e-discussions, roundtables, country events and specific studies. The results, while not UNDP policy, are intended to contribute to the ongoing debate on capacity development and the role of external partners. The aim is to take stock, reinforce old insights and to contribute to a new vision of capacity development that is firmly founded on genuine ownership by the ultimate beneficiaries of development efforts: the governments and citizens of developing countries.

Useful References:

• Project overview and process
• “Rethinking Technical Cooperation”
• Story line
• Glossary
• Advisory and Facilitation Group
• Project team

site developed in cooperation with euforic

The responsibility for opinions expressed on this website rests solely with the respective authors. Providing access to the documents on this website does not constitute an endorsement by UNDP or any institution of the United Nations system.