Capacity building (or capacity development) is the process by which individuals and organizations obtain, improve, and retain the skills, knowledge, tools, equipment and other resources needed to do their jobs competently or to a greater capacity (larger scale, larger audience, larger impact, etc). Capacity building and capacity development are often used interchangeably
The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) defines 'Capacity Development' for DRR as follows:
“The process by which people, organisations and society systematically stimulate and develop their capability over time to achieve social and economic goals, including through improvement of knowledge, skills, systems, and institutions – within a wider social and cultural enabling environment.” (UNISDR, 2009)

The Five Steps of the Capacity Development Cycle

Step 1. Engage stakeholders
Capacity development begins with people talking and listening to each other. The first step is to get a dialogue going among all those who stand to benefit from the enhanced capacity. The aim should be to get everyone committed to the process, and personally invested in its success.

Step 2. Assess capacity
The Capacity Assessment Process The capacity assessment process consists of three steps:
• mobilization and design
• conducting the process
• summarizing and assessing the results.

Step 3. Formulate a capacity development response
A good capacity development response builds on existing capacity assets to address the gaps identified in a capacity assessment. Most stakeholders prefer to play to their strengths – their capacity assets – and use what they are doing right to do other things better.

Step 4. Implement a capacity development response
The implementation phase is where the real action occurs. This is the point where all the thinking, planning, assessing, analyzing and designing is tested in the real world. For the most sustainable long-term results, implementation should be managed through national systems and processes rather than through the parallel systems of external partners. The very fact of using national systems can help strengthen essential capacities such as project management and procurement. Partner countries feel a strong sense of ownership of initiatives when their own systems and procedures are used for implementing programmes and projects. It is therefore important to help strengthen these systems.

Step 5. Evaluate capacity development
Measurement of capacity development success cannot be reduced to an increase in input resources such as human, financial, or physical resources. Availability of input resources does not guarantee their contribution to development objectives. Progress and results are reflected by changes in performance, which can be measured in terms of improved efficiency and effectiveness. But all these outcomes are less easy to capture than outputs, which is why it can be tempting to focus on such elements as funds disbursed, number of workshops conducted or number of people trained.

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