Browsing by Author "De Sousa, Jane"

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    Understanding the unintended consequences of a capacity building program :
    (2001) De Sousa, Jane; Kell, Catherine
    Capacity building programmes facilitated by development non-governmental organisations (NGOs) often fail to achieve their expected outcomes, resulting instead in a series of unintented consequences. These unintended consequences become legible when viewed as instrumental elements in the resultant constellation of the 'truths' of the developmental discourse that shape these capacity building programmes. This study identifies two unintended consequences of a capacity building programme facilitated be a rural support NGO. Firstly, the fact that the development discourse stresses the importance of people's empowerment and participation, results in processes which are more successful at assisting people to acquire the development discourse than training people in specific skills and to apply specific tools. Secondly, that the power relations between institutions operating within the development discourse, result in contradictions in the development practice of NGOs, such as the use of specific tools whose requirements are incompatible with the truths of the participatory development discourse within which most NGOs operate.