Plan International’s approach to Organisational Capacity Development

CSOs and youth groups are critical actors in advancing the rights of children and youth and supporting societal change and democracy. Plan International believes that civil society organisations are better positioned to contribute to impactful changes for children and youth when they have robust organisational capacity. This is why Plan International supports its partner organisations to further develop their organisational capacities. Contributing to and supporting organisational capacity development of local civil society organisation is also rooted in Plan International’s values of striving for lasting impact, openness and accountability, inclusivity and empowerment.

How does Plan International support organisational capacity development?

Plan International supports capacity development processes that are led and owned by the civil society partner organisations themselves. Plan International’s role is to facilitate the process. Supporting partner organisations capacity development aligns with Plan International’s partnerships principles. Plan International Sweden has developed a package to support organisational capacity development that can be used by any organisation that wishes to further develop its own organisational capacity in a structured way.

Plan International’s Organisational Capacity Assessment (OCA) tool is participatory, bringing together all relevant stakeholders within a civil society organisation to have meaningful discussions about their capacity, gaps and priorities across seven key areas: governance and accountability; programmes and operations; people and culture; finance; external relations; safeguarding; and sustainability. The tool also includes assessing the areas of internal democracy, gender transformation, anti-corruption, and conflict sensitivity.

The package for organisational capacity development support consists of: