page_title: Capacity building
hierarchical_section_title: Capacity building
caption_attribution_description: English: Germany - training course on hygiene promotion and behaviour change for German NGOs in Berlin, December 08th/9th 2012
context_page_description: Capacity building 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. It allows individuals and organizations to perform at a greater capacity. "Capacity building" and "Capacity development" are often used interchangeably. This term indexes a series of initiatives from the 1950s in which the active participation of local communities’ members in social and economic development was encouraged via national and subnational plans.
  Community capacity building is a conceptual approach toward social and behavioural change and leads to infrastructure development. It focuses on understanding the obstacles that inhibit people, governments, international organizations, and Non-Governmental Organizations from realizing the goals that will allow them to achieve sustainable results.
  The term community capacity building emerged, in the context of international development, during the 1990s. Today, "community capacity building" is included in the programs of most international organizations that work in development.
context_section_description: 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. It allows individuals and organizations to perform at a greater capacity (larger scale, larger audience, larger impact, etc). "Capacity building" and "Capacity development" are often used interchangeably. This term indexes a series of initiatives from the 1950s in which the active participation of local communities’ members in social and economic development was encouraged via national and subnational plans. 
  Community capacity building is a conceptual approach toward social and behavioural change and leads to infrastructure development. It focuses on understanding the obstacles that inhibit people, governments, international organizations, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) from realizing the goals that will allow them to achieve sustainable results.
  The term community capacity building emerged, in the context of international development, during the 1990s. Today, "community capacity building" is included in the programs of most international organizations that work in development. This includes organizations such as the World Bank, the United Nations, and non-governmental organizations like Oxfam International. The pervasive use of the term has resulted in controversy over its true meaning.
  Community capacity building often refers to strengthening the skills of people and communities, in small businesses and local grassroots movements, in order to achieve their goals and overcome particular issues that may cause exclusion. Organizational capacity building is used by NGOs and governments to guide their internal development and activities.
  Capacity building, as a practice, tends to treat the range of skills and competencies needed as linked to the immediate task. Martha Nussbaum's Capabilities approach provides more depth to this theory. Alternatively, Paul James proposes the Circles of Social Life approach.
caption: Training course on hygiene promotion in Berlin
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