"Capacity development is a tailor-made process which seeks to strengthen the effectiveness and impact of an organisation and its programmes for addressing poverty, in relation to their mission, context and resources"
Tearfund recognises that a capacity development approach may focus on one or more of four main areas of an organisation that works with the vulnerable and marginalised:
- partnership development organisational development
- programme development
- network and external relationships development
Tearfund supports capacity development through:
- working within a partnership approach that leads to interdependency
- appropriate and timely funding
- facilitation and support from Regional Advisors
- funding of training and accompaniment initiatives for groups of partners with common needs
- funding the process of organisational development and organisational change
- enabling partners to access local and regional expertise from resource organisations and consultants
- identification and/or training of local and regional resource people and organisations
- enabling partners to access publications and learning resources
- promotion of learning and sharing information between partners and other key actors
Tearfund is committed to the ethos and spirit of partnership and recognises that this is a two-way process. Tearfund must be open to addressing its own capacity development needs, to ensure that it remains effective and relevant to its partners' needs.