ISD and the Capacity Building of Cambodia’s Local Organizations (CBCLO) Program
KANAVA International, LLC traveled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia in June as part of its work with the USAID funded Capacity Building of Cambodia’s Local Organizations (CBCLO) Program.
Phnom Penh is an amazing city, filled with a vibrancy and determination that will assist in developing the economy of Cambodia. Kanava found the young people smart and eager to contribute, and private universities, such as Build Bright University, are expanding to meet the demand of those wanting to further their education. The chief of party of the CBCLO project, Raty Ouk, is an outstanding example. With over ten years of experience working on development projects and a background in finance, she is a dynamic and knowledgeable leader whose role is to help strengthen organizations in Cambodia to better serve their beneficiaries.
CBCLO supports USAID Cambodia’s Office of Finance Management. Their development objective is to strengthen the institutional capacity of local organizations in financial, administrative, procurement, and organizational management to effectively implement USAID-funded activities. The project also includes even those organizations not currently receiving USAID funding.
Funded by USAID, CBCLO is awarded to the Volunteer Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA). As the sub-awardee, KANAVA works with the International Executive Service Corps (IESC), the prime implementer, to implement the Impact Strengthening Development (ISD)TM Certification Program. CBCLO is providing KANAVA the opportunity to conduct the first field test of the ISDTM Certification Program.
KANAVA developed the Impact Strengthening Development (ISD)TM Certification Program as a capacity building measurement and mentoring tool. When certified, an organization can assure donors and clients that they have the capacity to compliantly manage their project funding.
In June, KANAVA conducted a Training-of-Trainers (TOT) program with the CBCLO staff on the ISDTM Certification Program. The training focused on how to:
conduct the assessment,
develop the gap analysis,
create the capacity building plan, and
prioritize the capacity building activities to be implemented.
The TOT was well received by the CBCLO staff, who provided valuable feedback on the assessment tool, including how to incorporate the USAID mandated pre-award assessment into the ISDTM tool.
Discussions were also held with several local organizations who may participate in the ISDTM assessment to obtain their certification. These organizations were very excited about the opportunity to comprehensively assess their current management capacity and to then have a roadmap developed to systematically strengthen their organizations.
KANAVA believes that ISDTM Certification is a very valuable tool that will contribute to stronger Cambodian organizations that will then be able to obtain more donor funding and/or private investment to build the Cambodian economy and increase the standard of living for all Cambodians.
KANAVA looks forward to carrying out the first assessment of a Cambodian organization later this year.