Capacity building of Civil Society The action builds on Cords current capacity development program in Laos. Since 2010, Cord has facilitated action learning workshops and individualized coaching sessions for over 10 NPAs in areas of strategic planning, proposal writing, participatory planning andevaluation, governance and non-violent communication. Cord is actively involved in networks supporting civil society to share best practices, avoid redundancies and develop a harmonized approach.

For this project, Oxfam Novib/Cord apply a partnership-based capacity development model to facilitate the strengthening of selected civil society organisations in Laos, thereby enabling them to moreeffectively and creatively manage resources and to play a more dynamic and active role in the ongoing development of civil society and democratic process in the country. This model is also applied in relation to key government actors, namely, the State Administration and Development Department, under PACSA, which is tasked with the responsibility for regulating and monitoring civil society organisations in Laos. The primary implementer of this action is Cord who has established a multidisciplinary advisory team in Laos and is currently developing partnerships with various NPAs, including developing further those relationships already in place with Oxfam Novib partners.  These NPAs include, the local associate Gender Development Association (GDA) who has extensive expertise workingon womens rights and gender empowerment issues; and the local implementingpartner Participatory Development Training Centre (PADETC) which incubates nascent Lao civil society organisations, including the Hmong Sisterhood Association and the Coalition for Lao Information, Communication and Knowledge (CLICK). PADETC is also highly skilled in developing media to increase political representation and participation and has launched and supports a network of learning centres throughout the country to support youth education through action-learning.

Building long-term partnerships
Because capacity development is necessarily a long-term process, the approach used is predicated on the establishment of a solid foundation of an agreed long-term partnership. Partnership is understood to mean working alongside civil society, governmentand private actors in mutually accountable relationships, where joint strategies and partnership agreements have been developed for the long term.

Action learning training events
While a significant portion of the workof this action will be conducted through individualised coaching and mentoring of partner organisation leaders and staff, it has also been recognised through initial consultations with NPAs and other INGOs working with them that there are a number of learning needs that are common to allNPAs.

Coaching and mentoring
It is widely recognised that training as a standalone activity is insufficient in bringing about real learning and change. In all areas of work in this action, principles of coaching, mentoring and facilitation are usedinsupporting local organisations, networks and government agencies.

Multi-stakeholder facilitation of networks and communities of practice
As agents of capacity development support, senior and national advisors play an important role in multi-stakeholder facilitation, both in the structured sense of conferences, and network and COP meetings and in the less formal sense of facilitating communities of practice and long-term processes of interaction.