A new definition of capacity-building is evolving--one tha t is veering away from conventional ideas of organizational engineering . As it encompasses the broad environment or system in which social changes occur, capacitybuilding has become more complex, yet also more rewarding . Today, some of the buzzwords are empowerment, social capital, enabling environment. Moreover, culture, values and power rela tions that influence and motivate organizations and individuals are gaining more attention. There is respect and even appreciation now for informal patterns of personal and culture-bound organizational behavior- the unwritten rules of the game, so to speak. As well, there is the urge to complement, not replace, indigenous ha bits and practices. All of these are progressively coalescing into a body of concepts called capacity development.

The question of whether political, fiscal, and administrative decentralization improves government effectiveness is hotly debated among researchers and policy makers. 'Decentralization, Democracy, and Development' contributes to the empirical literature on decentralization and the debate on whether it is a viable and desirable state-building strategy for post-conflict countries. This book is a collection of eight papers written by nine authors who were intimately involved in the complex decentralization reform process in Sierra Leone from 2003 07. During this period, Sierra Leone s government established elected district and urban councils across the country, transferred certain responsibilities for primary services and local investment and some financial resources to the new councils, and invested heavily in building the administrative infrastructure and capacity of the local councils. Compared to most other Sub-Saharan African countries that have embarked upon decentralization, Sierra Leone s progress in building local government capacity and restructuring the fiscal system is enviable. The authors conclude that improved security and public services are possible in a decentralizing country and Sierra Leone s progress would not have been possible without significant effort at fiscal decentralization and intensive investment in local government capacity building. The most critical ingredient for this promising but fragile reform process is the dynamic leadership team in charge of promoting the new institutional framework and their persistent effort to achieve quick improvement in the local government system and public services.

The Third African Sanitation and Hygiene Conference was held in Kigali, Rwanda in July 2011. It was hosted by the Government of the Republic of Rwanda, and the African Ministers Council on Water. The meeting attracted extraordinary interest: over 1000 people registered and nearly 900 people attended from a total of 67 countries, including representatives of 42 African countries. The content of AfricaSan 3 was aligned with the needs of countries as defined in country preparation meetings which took place in advance. AfricaSan 3 looked to address the country needs and to commitments and country action planning. Different groups (ministers, civil society, local government, utilities, and donors) committed to actions to support the goals of AfricaSan. The goal of the AfricaSan process is to support countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goal, (MDG) for sanitation and hygiene. This book is freely available to download electronically from the IWA Publishing site Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa: Where do We Stand? takes stock of progress made by African countries through the AfricaSan process since 2008 and the progress needed to meet the MDG on sanitation by 2015 and beyond. This book addresses priorities which have been identified by African countries as the key elements which need to be addressed in order to accelerate progress. • Reviews progress on implementing the eThekwini Declaration to meet the MDG for sanitation and progress generally in Africa. It analyses what is needed to accelerate the rate of access to sanitation in Africa. • Shares advances in the evidence base on sanitation and hygiene in Africa to be able to assist decision-makers to overcome key blockages in implementing large-scale sanitation and hygiene programs. • Raises the profile of sanitation and hygiene as a determinant of sustainable development in order to strengthen leadership and advocacy for sustained sanitation and behavior changes. This book is essential reading for government staff from Ministries responsible for sanitation, sector stakeholders working in NGOs, CSOs and agencies with a focus on sanitation and hygiene and water and Sanitation specialists. It is also suitable for Masters courses in water and sanitation and for researchers and the donor community.

In an effort to reduce poverty and improve nutrition, this Bank operation assisted the Indian program Operation Flood to develop the dairy industry in India. This study examines the policy changes instituted to support the aid flow to the dairy sector and discusses the lessons learned and benefits realized through improved dairy production. It also presents suggestions for improvement. This program differs from other Bank efforts in that it focuses on a single commodity to alleviate poverty and raise living standards.

This book provides a comprehensive exploration of next-generation internet, distributed systems, and distributed computing, offering valuable insights into their impact on society and the future of technology. The use of distributed systems is a big step forward in IT and computer science. As the number of tasks that depend on each other grows, a single machine can no longer handle all of them. Distributed computing is better than traditional computer settings in several ways. Distributed systems reduce the risks of a single point of failure, making them more reliable and able to handle mistakes. Most modern distributed systems are made to be scalable, which means that processing power can be added on the fly to improve performance. The internet of the future is meant to give us freedom and choices, encourage diversity and decentralization, and make it easier for people to be creative and do research. By making the internet more three-dimensional and immersive, the metaverse could introduce more ways to use it. Some people have expressed negative things about the metaverse, and there is much uncertainty regarding its future. Analysts in the field have pondered if the metaverse will differ much from our current digital experiences, and if so, whether people will be willing to spend hours per day exploring virtual space while wearing a headset. This book will look at the different aspects of the next-generation internet, distributed systems, distributed computing, and their effects on society as a whole.

Since its adoption in 2015, the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development has shaped not only international development cooperation but also the design of national trajectories for social and economic development. In tandem with other global agendas adopted that year (such as the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and UN Habitat’s New Urban Agenda) it remains the global and regional blueprint for sustainable development despite the COVID-19 pandemic. The term "localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)" has been used to capture the importance of subnational governments for achieving national SDG agendas. However, there is little deeper analysis of the required nexus between fiscal, political, and legal arrangements for SNGs; their involvement in national policy arenas (which discuss and decide on national SDG strategies); and the need for locally disaggregated data systems on the one hand, and effective SDG localization strategies on the other hand. It is this aspect which the present publication explores in greater detail by using country examples and conceptual analyses. The text will be of interest to policymakers, scholars, students and practitioners in public policy and public administration, decentralization, and sustainable development, with a focus on the Asia and Pacific region. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO).

This publication presents an overview of the concepts and definitions of environment and sustainable development, showing the importance of environment and natural resources for the economies of developing countries. It provides basic knowledge and analytical tools related to environment/economy interactions and how these should be taken into account in decision-making at decentralized, or subnational, level. It reviews the role of government and the instruments at its disposal, in addition to regulatory instruments, to create a context in which environmental issues are analysed and addressed.

As developing countries seek to improve the quality of their education systems, one approach they are considering is decentralization. But transforming a centralized system into one that is decentralized, and high quality is a complex undertaking, one that requires, among other things, a coherent design. This report details an approach for creating a viable design for a high-quality decentralized education system—an approach that is premised on sound principles such as economies of scale, speed of transaction, and customer satisfaction, and which has "effective schools" as the focal point of the method.