Twinning projects must be understood as major organisational change processes. It should be understood by all the stakeholders at the outset that a twinning project is a major intervention in an existing organization. Systems theory tells us that an intervention in any subsystem of an organization will certainly have effects in all the other subsystems, some of which can be anticipated and planned and some cannot. This demands flexibility in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of twinning projects. If all the parties to the twinning project particularly the twinned organisations and the sponsoring agency are to establish a forum where stakeholders can debate the meaning of the project.
Leadership is crucial.
As was noted earlier, in this particular project this leadership blend was serendipitous and it is true, of course, that every project is unique in terms of its leadership. Nevertheless, consideration of this aspect of the twinning model must become more explicit, particularly by the sponsor. The term Twinning may appear to imply, unfortunately, that the developing country partner is supposed to become more like its more experienced twin. It is important that twinning project be viewed by the stakeholders as organisational cooperation , emphasising that the twinned organisations carry equal responsibility, as partners, for all aspects of the cooperation. It is desirable that the sponsoring agency makes its overarching development goals and its requirements for the twinning projects very clear at the outset.