3rd Pan-African Capacity Development Forum (CDF)
The World Needs a Strong Africa and a Strong Africa Needs Sustainable Capacity
2-6 May 2016, Harare, Zimbabwe
The 3rd Pan African Capacity Development Forum organized by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) will be held between 2-6 May 2016, Harare, Zimbabwe. The theme of the Forum is “Developing Capacity for Africa’s Economic and Social Transformation”. The Forum will provide an excellent opportunity for the ACBF to partner with all the institutions working for Africa’s sustainable capacity development and offer to all an exclusive opportunity to showcase their work and to exhibit their programs for developing sustainable capacity in Africa’s public sector, private sector and civil society for an effective transformation.
The 3rd Pan African Capacity Development Forum will also provide a unique opportunity to policy makers and development practitioners, to reflect on the priority capacity development avenues that will lead to the effective economic and social transformation in Africa.
The Forum represents a powerful platform not only for knowledge sharing in capacity development but also for the development and the improvement of partnerships among stakeholders. In spite of the notable political, economic and social progress recorded across the continent, many African countries continue to face serious human and institutional capacity deficits, which have prevented them from achieving their development potential. These capacity deficits that exist at the local, country and regional levels have made it difficult for the continent to address such key challenges as lack of structural transformation, youth unemployment and poverty.
As the MDGs come to an end, it is important to take stock of progress and lessons learned but it is even more important to engage in a serious reflection and dialogue on the capacity imperatives of Africa’s Post-2015 Development Agenda and AU Agenda 2063.
The first Pan African Capacity Development Forum organized by the ACBF was hosted by the Government of Mali in Bamako on 22-24 October 2001 while the Government of Mozambique hosted the second one in Maputo on 1-3 August 2007. On both occasions, the Forum represented a major high level gathering, involving close to 1,000 delegates, including Heads of State and Government; high level African and international country delegations; international organizations; as well as representatives of the public sector, private sector and civil society organizations. The Forums offered an opportunity to assess the progress already made in capacity development in Africa, made recommendations to boost the effectiveness of existing programs while paving the way for success in the future.
