About Training for Real
The human resources of the Water and Sanitation Sector are valuable; Significant investment is made in training staff. International research by the UK Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) has shown that the water sector in various countries is undergoing institutional change. Uganda is held up as an example of good practice, with government departments (local and national), the private sector and NGOs changing their roles to improve service delivery.
Managing change: learning new skills for new roles.
This change needs to be managed, with attention being paid to the changing needs of the sector’s human resources. Educational establishments can provide support with both expertise and training to meet changing circumstances but only if they have the right communication with the employers to understand the needs of the workforce in a changing environment. However, educators in turn need support to respond to the changes in their work, in terms of training materials and modes of delivery. Some efforts have been made to establish networks of capacity building organisations, but these have not always proved to be effective or sustainable. However, lessons can be learnt from successful examples, to improve the contribution all stakeholders can make to the goals of the sector.
Just carrying out training however may not have the desired impact. Badly managed capacity building programmes can mean the wrong people attend the wrong course, delivered in the wrong way, at the wrong time, covering the wrong material.
Capacity development: making the investment count in Uganda
In recognition of the needs and problems associated with capacity building, a project focusing on the sector-wide issues of capacity building was started in July 2003. It aims to look at the foundations of human resource development, rather than a piecemeal review of curricula, courses or workshops. By improving the communication and mutual understanding of organizations supplying and demanding capacity building, the targeting of activities could be improved and a more focused, sustainable and cost-effective workforce should emerge – for the whole sector.
The original proposal for the Training for Real project focused on the issue of improving the demand and supply of capacity building, to provide:
“motivated and responsive HRD and training providers, better equipped to provide employer relevant professional development of water and sanitation sector staff”
The project offers an ideal opportunity to build on the current dialogue on capacity building between capacity building suppliers and employers in a changing institutional environment and move towards the development of an appropriate strategy for the rapidly evolving water and sanitation sector. The project started off with a consultation phase. It has moved on to various activities, such as:
- Sector wide forums;
- Pilot training activites;
- Knowledge management assessments;
- Reporting back to the sector; and
- Mentoring Human Resource Managers.
Hosted by WEDC
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