Organisational Capacity Building and Civil Society Strengthening in the

Balkans: Lessons learnt from work with NGOs and Community-based

organisations
by Bill Sterland March 2008
Introduction background to civil society development
The rapid onset of transition from socialism to liberal economy in the Western Balkans1 in the
early 1990s, and its concomitant social upheaval, also brought about a reshaping and
reconfiguration of the sector of social organisations and social activism. In place of various
socially-controlled and state-financed networks and pyramids of interest-oriented
organisations, such as youth sports centres, or single disability unions dispensing welfare or
charity, an independent, self-organising third sector, or civil society, appeared oriented
towards the financial support and ideological alternatives offered by Western donors and
international development agencies. In those regions affected by the upheavals of civil or
ethno-nationalist conflict, which experienced an almost total breakdown of central authority
and a massive erosion of state services and support, international aid agencies and donors
actively encouraged the proliferation of Western-style NGOs, as means through which to
channel humanitarian aid and provide essential services.
In order to assist NGO
development, but also to strengthen civil society more generally, development agencies and
donors provided a succession of capacity-building measures and project opportunities for
learning by doing,2 and also promoted legal and institutional reforms in order to provide an
enabling environment.
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During the last fifteen or more years, the Regions civil societies have undergone continual
processes of development, shaped by changing political and social conditions and
international influences and opportunities. Although specific (foreign) funding trends have
altered with unsettling frequency and unpredictability (often complicating the achievement of
organisational sustainability in the shorter term),3 civil societies in the Region are all
developing along similar trajectories. As post-conflict (and sometimes post-socialist) crises
have abated, state institutions and mechanisms for social protection and service provision
have slowly begun to recover. Accordingly, in all areas, CSOs in general have shifted their
focus of attention initially from dispensing humanitarian aid, then to service provision and now
finally to advocacy for the fulfilment of human rights (rights-based approaches) and the
provision of services for assisting state capacity building (such as training government
workers, introducing new practices into government institutions or monitoring the
implementation of poverty reduction strategies). To a large extent, this ongoing shift is a
response to opportunities available within the overall development framework established by
the international community for the Region. Through means such as the Instrument for PreAccession (IPA), and supporting bi-lateral funding channels, the EU and its member states are
intent on securing institutional reform based on the achievement of standards and the
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That is, in ex-Yugoslavia and Albania

See Sterland, B (2006) Civil Society Capacity Building in Post-Conflict Societies: The Experience of Bosnia and
Herzegovina and Kosovo, Praxis Paper no. 9, INTRAC (available at www.intrac.org), for a detailed analysis of the
approaches and methods applied to NGO capacity building in the Region.
3
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, for example, between 1994 2003, foreign support to civil society was applied in
rough succession for the following purposes: humanitarian aid; capacity building and training; service provision;
conflict resolution; human rights, democracy and governance; advocacy; and long-term development. See Sterland
B (2004) Civil Society Development in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Double transition under international control,
notes to case study presentation given at INTRAC training on Civil Society Development. See also Sterland 2006
op cit. pp 56-57.
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2
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Organisational capacity building and civil society strengthening in the Balkans

fulfilment of rights in all Balkan countries as the precondition for entry into the EU at some later
date.
Work with NGOs and CBOs in the region over eight years in a number of guises, including that
of a trainer and consultant, a project evaluator, and facilitator of participatory organisational
assessments, strategic planning and other organisational processes,4 has provided the
opportunity to draw general lessons or good practice which may be applied to CSO capacity
building and civil society strengthening in other contexts:
Lessons learnt
Ensuring approaches are holistic and flexible*

Organisational capacity building is best carried out using a flexible process and
learning-oriented approach that involves the whole group. It should not rely too
heavily on one method, and where training is used it should attempt to introduce
elements of learning by doing, and exercises that aim to produce concrete outputs.
Generic modular trainings should be avoided, and delivery of capacity building
assistance should be constantly reviewed and adapted to the specific needs of
individual organisations and the particular local political, social and institutional
circumstances.

Organisational capacity building alone is not sufficient to create strong NGOs and a
vibrant civil society. Institutional strengthening, including civil society networking,
the building of cross-sector partnerships, improvements to the legal environment in
which CSOs work and facilitating institutional funding arrangements, should be carried
out simultaneously. Local CSOs can themselves play a major role in building
institutional strengths through advocacy activities, but benefit greatly from inputs from
external development agencies that may provide expert knowledge, financial
assistance and facilitate access to power.
Strengthening identity

All initiatives in organisational development should proceed from the organisations
identity; that is, OD should first seek to establish why and for what an organisation
exists. This is often overlooked, and participatory organisational assessments
repeatedly show the need for NGOs to return to their core values and revisit their
founding vision of the kind of society for which they strive, before continuing to other
capacity strengthening measures. The importance of a clear, coherent vision,
developed by all members of the organisation, with the participation of key
stakeholders, cannot be over emphasised. Vision and the values it embodies are the
centre of the organisation from which all else structure, programmes, working
practices etc grows and develops.
Mobilising resources

Contrary to commonly held opinion in the Region (which accentuates the depth of
economic collapse in the Region, the slow rate of economic recovery and growth,
including high unemployment, inadequate livelihoods and poor services, as well as the
extent of dependency on international support), financial sustainability of CSOs can be
4

Apart from direct engagement with NGO support and capacity building organisations, I have worked as a capacity
builder with organisations active in the following fields: community development, youth activism and youth training,
mental health, disability, human rights, gender and womens issues, environment and rural/agricultural
development.
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Organisational capacity building and civil society strengthening in the Balkans

achieved by mobilising local resources. Youth projects (e.g. UNV) and community
development initiatives (Swiss Red Cross, World Vision) in Bosnia have succeeded in
attracting considerable support from local governments, business and individuals. All
local governments, regardless of the size of their budgets, command resources that
can confer sustainability on a local CSO (financial contributions, concessions on tax,
local rates and amenities, premises, equipment etc). Attracting local support, showing
greater responsiveness to local concerns, is the means of reducing dependency on
foreign donors (including dependency for ideas, and agendas), which remains the rule
throughout the Western Balkans.

Strong and creative community leadership is essential for mobilising community
resources (human and financial) in support of social and economic development.
Leadership, however, should be invested primarily in groups and organisations, not in
individuals. This is especially important for youth organisations, where high
investments in terms of time and money are quickly lost to the organisation or
community when youth leaders leave and progress to new things in life (university,
employment, families etc).

Material or financial incentives have proved valuable motivating factors for individuals
and communities to initiate activity. Evidence from capacity-building programmes with
IDPs in Bosnian collective centres suggests that gains in self-reliance and confidence
are greatest when financial incentives are directed towards the interests of the wider
group, rather than the individual, and when participants are given full responsibility to
lead and direct group processes free of the pressure to achieve a predetermined result.
In this way, small grants for community improvements or the opportunity to apply for
modest project funding are preferable to providing individual rewards in return for work
carried out. In addition, World Vision BiH has found that in community development
work, increasing the size of project support does not lead to proportional increases in
activities or outputs. While moderate support often encourages a creative and
proactive attitude to resource mobilisation from within the community, larger
investments may deepen attitudes of donor dependency (acquired during earlier
periods of war-time emergency or state collapse) or even engender local discord as
powerful elites and other self-seeking groups attempt to capture the newly available
resources.
Individual capacities

Building the capacities of individuals, particularly the improvement of technical skills,
is an important component of organisational capacity building. Indeed, organisational
or higher levels of capacity strengthening usually proceed from work with the individual.
However, strategies based purely on skills training (such as, project writing, financial
management, fundraising) detached from the systems of practice and thought that
constitute an organisation and through which an organisation undertakes its everyday
activities, will have little impact on long-term effectiveness and sustainability (see
above *).

Placements of expert volunteers or those bringing new perspectives on old problems
are potentially powerful tools for capacity building (institutional and organisational),
where the volunteer is able to use her/his position to motivate, spread ideas and
facilitate relationships and practical activity.
Developing external relationships

Organisational capacity building and civil society strengthening in the Balkans


NGO coalitions have proved to be an effective means of coordinating NGO activity, of

increasing the overall capacity and scope of civil society activists, of creating NGO
legitimacy and increasing the effectiveness of community-based activities. The key to
making coalitions function is establishing clear goals consistent with an agreed socially
oriented and relevant identity.

Many organisations, even CBOs and peer-based organisations, find it difficult to make
regular and substantive contact with their direct stakeholders or users. Building a local
constituency of active participants and supporters, therefore, may present a
considerable challenge to the organisation. Many NGOs and CBOs undertake needs
analysis on the basis of poor information from the field. The importance of
stakeholder participation in planning and implementation, even in the case of
community development projects run by CBOs, is often not fully appreciated.
Facilitation of contacts with , as well as assisting the development of facilitation,
negotiating and communication skills for better stakeholder contacts is of great value to
NGOs and CBOs at whichever level they may be working. Similarly, capacity building
should encourage greater stakeholder participation in planning, implementation and
monitoring of programmes.
Analytical capacities, strategic thinking and new ideas

The development of analytical capacity and the ability to think strategically, as well
as diagnostically, play an increasingly important role in CSO management as the
organisation develops on the road from an idea to a fully mature entity. Too often
CSOs and their leaders place too much faith in the learning and application of technical
skills and predetermined methodologies. Developing analytical capacity enables
organisations to adapt to change in their environment, as well as develop sophisticated
approaches to their work which are applicable to social complexity.

Strategic planning has proved to be most useful when proceeding from, or prompted
by an in-depth analysis of the social, political and economic environment in which the
CSO is situated which attempts to address questions of cause and effect. Equipping
an organisation with the analytical tools, as well as setting aside the resources
(including human resources and time) needed to carry out such a review, may present
a considerable challenge. As strategic planning is often considered a donor
requirement or similar, to be ticked off from a list of formal requirements for successful
NGO management, both its full execution and preparation are often neglected and
under-resourced.

An often overlooked element in capacity building of relevance to the individual,
organisational and institutional levels is the power of new understanding and ideas.
Rights-based approaches, such as Watchdog programmes, or the Social Model of
disability and mental health (rather than traditional Medical Models), which assist
developmental understanding as opposed to a passive acceptance of charity or
welfare, encourage self-reliance and self-confidence and help create momentum within
organisations and social movements, through their power to inspire, instil a thirst for
social justice and a sense of social responsibility.
The importance of local ownership

Organisational sustainability is rooted in local ownership. Although the majority of
NGOs and a great many CBOs in the Region have been induced by international
agencies, experience suggests that it is better to build upon existing capacities by
working through indigenenous structures, rather than creating new ones. Localising

Organisational capacity building and civil society strengthening in the Balkans

internationally initiated organisations has proved to be extremely difficult.5 This is

especially so for professional NGOs whose local workers tend see themselves as
employees in a foreign firm, rather than as members of a local organisation to which
they belong.
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In divided communities, where peace building or conflict transformation is the

objective (of the external organisation), international actors have proved invaluable for
mediating initial contacts between hitherto antagonistic or segregated parties. Further
experience shows, however, that after a period of confidence building, successful
organisational capacity development depends upon the implementation of a wellplanned localisation process, during which full control of and responsibility for the
organisation is taken back by local actors.
Enhancing participation in public policy

Establishing and maintaining effective and lasting NGO networks has proved
extremely difficult, mainly for reasons of competition for resources and lack of
consensus concerning long-term objectives. During the design of national PRSPs that
have been undertaken at different times throughout the Region, short-term coalitions
of like-minded NGOs have been formed in response to the call for public consultation
on a range of social and economic issues. These coalitions have proved an effective
way of mobilising a mass of NGO support to influence critical issues of national
development strategy, as well as overcoming NGO reluctance to form networks.

The ability of NGOs to influence government policy and act as agents of social change
is contingent on government capacities for planning, management and coordination,
and a readiness to engage seriously with non-governmental actors. Government
capacities throughout the Region remain low; ultimately effective social change through
the implementation of appropriate policy will be achieved only with the complicated
task of reform and capacity building of government departments and social institutions.
At the community level, the ability of CBOs is similarly dependent on municipal
capacities for good governance. Despite the onset of decentralisation in all countries
of the Region, municipal authorities remain ill-equipped to deal with the challenges of
participatory planning and the responsive and transparent allocation resources.6
Strategies to strengthen civil society capabilities for advocacy and policy dialogue must
address shortfalls in government capacity simultaneously.
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Acronyms used in the text

BiH
CBO
CSO
EU
IDP
INGO
IPA

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Community-based organisation
Civil society organisation
European Union
Internally Displaced Person
International non-governmental organisation
Instrument for Pre-Accession (to the EU)

See Presentation Transition from International Project to Sustainable Local NGO: Experiences of Localisation
from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, available at www.sterland.biz
6
See Community Development in the Western Balkans: Learning from the Field, 2008, available at
www.sterland.biz & Poles Apart? Community Development and Local Governance in Former Yugoslavia,
ONTRAC No. 34, 2006; INTRAC, available at < http://www.intrac.org/resources_database.php?id=289 >
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NGO
OD
PRSP

Non-governmental organisation
Organisational development
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

Sources from which lessons have been taken:

Project / programme evaluations:
CISP (2005) Ethnic Reintegration in North-East Bosnia and Herzegovina: Enhancing Minority
Participation in Local Governance; mid-term evaluation, unpublished document
IRC (2004) Improving Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health in Bosnia and Herzegovina,
available at < www.sterland.biz >
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ORT (2006) Watchdog project Implementation of the Rule of Law in Montenegro, available at
< www.sterland.biz>
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Swiss Red Cross (2006) Facilitation of Sustainable Return in Six Communities in Northeast
Bosnia; mid-term evaluation, unpublished document
Swiss Red Cross (2004) Capacity Building for Greater Responsibility and Self-Reliance in
Mihatovii Settlement of Displaced People, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, available at
< www.sterland.biz >
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UNV/UNDP (2005): Integrated Youth Programme, Bosnia and Herzegovina, unpublished

document
UNDP (2004) UNDP Capacity Building Programme, Phase II, Montenegro; unpublished
document written for INTRAC
World Vision (2006), Council for Peace and Tolerance, Mitrovica, Kosovo; end of project
evaluation, unpublished document
World Vision (2004)
Building Confidence through the formation of Parent-Teacher
Associations and Police Community Initiatives for a more democratic environment and respect
of human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, available at < www.sterland.biz >
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Organisational assessments and capacity-building plans all unpublished

FONDAS, Montenegrin NGO support organisation
Corridor, Bosnia mental health service provider, 2005
HealthNet Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003
SHL Bosnia (Schler Helfen Leben), German / Bosnian youth centre and Capacity builder,
2003
UAW (Useful to Albanian Women), 2006
ZOOM (Trentino con il Kossovo), 2007

Organisational capacity building and civil society strengthening in the Balkans