The importance of strengthening institutions in developing countries and countries in transition has long been recognised as a priority by recipient governments and by donors and an increasing number of projects mention institution building as one of their objectives. The World Bank and other agencies have realised that the shortage of trained indigenous manpower is often an impediment to economic growth and project sustainability. However the number of success stories across all sectors, especially transport, is limited. The body of expertise in this complex area is rudimentary and few exercises have been documented by the implementing agencies or evaluated by donors. This paper looks at the key ingredients required for the success of institutional strengthening exercises and the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches. It is based on a review of documentation from the World Bank, ODA and other sources as well as first hand experience of managing training and institution building exercises in Egypt, Algeria, Mexico and Nigeria. (A)
Abstract