Technical assistance for institutional capacity building

Abstract

The US government has been actively engaged for the last 15 years in foreign assistance programs for building democratic governance institutions and enhancing overall government capacity in the former Soviet bloc countries. Transfers of public policies, administrative structures and management practices from one country to another are problematic. In this article we suggest that there are some fundamental constraints inherent in the framework of cross-national transfers. It identifies two major transferability challenges: (1) feasibility of transfer and (2) appropriateness of transfer. This article discusses three institution building programs of short duration (three to five years), whose broad purposes were institutional and professional capacity building. Many powerful forces, domestic and international, shape the likelihood of democratic consolidation in the transitional democracies. While fundamental questions about the transferability of institutional norms and structures from one country to another remain, our experiences indicate that thoughtful and flexible implementation strategies are likely to increase the chances that soft technology transfer projects will contribute to building institutional capacity. A great degree of uncertainty, nevertheless, will always remain in determining the long-term impacts of foreign technical assistance programs for transfer of institutional norms and structures. Points for practitionersInternational projects for institution building encounter two critical challenges:(1) constraints on transfer of political, social and economic institutions from one society to another; and (2) designing and managing a project that establishes

Strengthening national public health institutes: a systematic review on institution building in the public sector

“…Political leadership was stated as “essential” to achieve successful reforms and the building of institutions ( 47 , 48 , 56 , 78 ), including the enforcement of related regulations ( 61 ). According to lessons learned in the creation of NPHIs, leaders should have a clear vision, the ability to support staff, use opportunities, deal with controversies ( 23 ), and be committed to accomplish both political and technical objectives ( 53 ).…”

“…Five NPHI directors referred to the importance of well-trained personnel ( 23 ), supporting the importance of raising technical and managerial skills of human resources ( 45 , 46 , 78 ). Institutions and their personnel should learn from past experiences, peers and clients ( 47 ). Institutions may choose to include the development and management of knowledge to improve organizational performance, focus on both organizational performance and benefit of employees, or even have a primary focus on employees’ support that would bring consequent benefits for the organization.…”

“…The latter ones can bring in their expertise to the delivering on the Essential Public Health Functions (EPHFs). For example, they may support with capacity building activities, technology transfer, and provide structured peer-to-peer assistance that can be transformed into tailored and organized collaboration ( 14 , 42 , 47 , 49 , 67 , 74 ).…”

“…Many sources of evidence in this review show that for any organization, measuring performance and results is crucial for institution building, and that there is a wide array of approaches and instruments ranging from performance measurement, monitoring and evaluation to different types of audits. As state-owned and public organizations often suffer from poor reputation, low legitimacy, and are often perceived by the public as being corrupt ( 45 , 47 , 66 , 69 , 79 ), control and the transparent dissemination of findings is critical.…”

Introduction: The OECD and Policy Transfer: Comparative Case Studies

“…For example, it would be impossible to understand policy developments in Central and Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism without understanding the role of the World Bank, the European Union, and the OECD, to name a few. The developing world has also been especially fertile ground for the transfer of public policy models across the spectrum of policy fields and management (Common 2001;McCourt and Minogue 2001;Evans 2004;Larmour 2005;Desai and Snavely 2007;Karini 2013), even if the efficacy of that transfer is increasingly brought into question (Easterly 2006;Moyo 2009). Second, the OECD represents an almost pure case of an international organization advising on policy transfer and best practices (though it resists using this terminology) without the big stick, and with only the power, more or less, of persuasion and research instead.…”