Insights

On January 23, 2024, NPI EXPAND hosted the second event in the project’s series, Lessons in Localization: Experiences and Perspectives from the NPI EXPAND Project. As NPI EXPAND comes to a close in October 2024, the project will share experiences and lessons learned from implementing its large-scale grants and capacity strengthening program through a series of webinars for stakeholders over the next twelve months. To stay updated on the series and future events, be sure to sign up for email updates from the project using this link.

In the development and humanitarian sectors, capacity assessments of local organizations have been used for various purposes, including identifying local organizations to fund, identifying organizational needs, planning capacity strengthening interventions, and measuring progress in organizational capacity. Over the course of local partner capacity assessments implemented by NPI EXPAND with its nearly 90 partners, the project has developed and implemented various assessment tools with a diverse range of partners. The approach for these assessments sought to encourage local ownership of the assessment process and results, often with the goal of using these results as the basis for capacity strengthening support provided through the project. As a result, NPI EXPAND has various lessons learned to share on the uses, adaptations, and applicability of these assessments along with experiences on managing common challenges that appeared during local partner assessment.

Together with Pact, who has 50+ years of experience working with local actors, this event A Balancing Act: Rigor and Ownership in Local Partner Assessments brought together capacity strengthening experts and local partners for a discussion on local partner assessment implementation, ownership, and the use of results. Local partners from Kenya, Tanzania, and Pakistan were featured.