Capacity building
Meaning? Media Support develops its affiliate organisations so they are sustainable with gradually less management control from us, and less reliant on technical assistance.
How?
- By identifying skill needs amongst local staff, and providing training opportunities
- By providing close
- By investigating the best form of local organisation, and steering local managers through the legal and financial challenges of setting up a non-profit organisation, selecting board members, chairing board meetings etc
- Providing assistance in defining the mission and objectives of the new organisation and assisting in business development and contacts with donors.
Since starting to work in Afghanistan in2002, Media Support’s team has always been 100% Afghan, with consultants in distance education, evaluation and studio and communications development visiting from time to time. As the need for media based initiatives assisting development was clearly going to grow, it was decided to form a local company, Media Support Partnership Afghanistan (MSPA) and expand the range of its projects. MSS helped with the registration procedures, and continues to provide assistance in submitting financial reports. But the local Finance Officer’s skills have been enhanced through training, and expatriate assistance has been provided on developing new business in an organised and sustained way.There are many security and administrative challenges to locally owned businesses in Afghanistan, but the plan is that MSPA will become fully independent by the end of 2010.
Case study: Makgabaneng in Botswana
In 2001,Media Support played a key role in setting up a team of writers, researchers and producers capable of producing a needs-based radio soap opera focusing on behaviour change relating to HIV/AIDS on behalf of the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC). Over the next six years, MSS moved to localise control of the creative team initially via its local subsidiary - Nesswana. The production was written and run entirely by the local team who are supported with regular training and workshops to refine storyline development, scriptwriting, acting and production. At the same time, the legal and administrative building blocks for setting up an independent local NGO were put in place, including a local board of directors. MSS provided assistance in securing five years' funding from CDC. In 2007, Media Support successfully completed the 'localising' of the management with an independent, financially secure NGO, Makgabaneng, which now takes full responsibility for the project.
