INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING OPERATIONAL PRISONS MANAGEMENT COURSE 11-22 NOVEMBER, HPSS, EMBAKASI KENYA By Solomon Aina

OBJECTIVES At the end of the class activity, participants will: Know the meaning and purpose of an institution Know what is institutional building Learn the components of institutional building Know the role of leadership process in institutional building

Learn the challenges of institutional building Objectives cont’d Learn the challenges of institutional building

INTRODUCTION Most developing economies particularly those emerging from conflict situation have weak governance because their institutions are weak in terms of capacity and service delivery. One major activity common to all post-conflict societies is institutional building in order to sustain peace, promote rights of all persons especially the vulnerable group and engineer development.

The quality of a country’s institution matters for its growth and development Weak institutions translate to weak governance and by extension poor economic performance. Institutions are often the product of the interest groups which control political power

Historically, institutional building is achieved through development policy or through coercive policy In many instances, governments seek to achieve institutional change through policy alone but this has had mixed results

Class Activity How do we build better institutions What are the efforts in your country

Certain emerging lessons learned in post-conflict environment have shown that certain factors cannot be ignored as they are dynamic in determining whether institutional building will succeed or not. Such factors like accountability, result based leadership that will promote integrity and transparency, a general mind-set and practices that favours professional integrity over corruption, setting and making standard work are issues that must be addressed. Furthermore institutions are connected; they are interrelated and therefore cooperative relationship among institutions should be consciously nurtured from the onset.

WHAT IS INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING-DEFINITION The term Institutional Building is often used interchangeably with such terms like Institution Capacity Building, Institutional Reform, Institutional Change and Capacity Development. The driving point of all these is to enhance the capacity of government institutions to function properly. No nation State can function effectively and efficiently without its institutions. What then is an institution?

Meaning and Purpose of Institutions Institutions are organization or establishment founded for specific purpose. Governments need its institutions to enforce its laws and provide services to the citizenry Having identified what institutions are, what then is Institutional Building.

According to World Custom Organization, Organization Institutional Building is defined as activities which strengthen the knowledge, abilities, skills and behavior of individuals and improve institutional structures and processes such that the organization can efficiently meet its mission and goals

United Nations Development Programme (2006) defines it as the ability of people; institutions and societies to perform functions, solve problems and set out to achieve objectives.

World Bank defines Institutional Capacity Building as a process of acquiring resources and integrating them in a way that leads to change in individual behavior and ultimately to more efficient and effective operations of institutions and organizations.

COMPONENTS OF INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING PROCESS According to the World Bank, institutional capacity building encompasses three main activities namely: -skill upgrading -procedural improvement -organizational strengthening

Others have identified four main components namely: -Human Resource improvement (technical skill and people skill) -Intra-organizational improvement (key process within organization, culture) -inter-organization activities (consultative network between organizations, relationship) -External activities (legislations, policies, incentives)

The two positions are similar; the only difference is that the procedural improvement processes has been split into intra and inter organizational activities.

Tangible and Non-Tangible components The components of the Institutional Building process can be categorized further into two namely tangible and non-tangible components

TANGIBLE AND NON-TANGIBLE COMPONENTS OF INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING Tangible components are quantifiable aspects include infrastructure development, organizational structure, legal frameworks and policies. Non-tangible aspect of institutional building on the other hand are the underlying and unquantifiable aspects includes social skills, social cohesion, values, institutional culture, motivation, political interest and so forth

In Institutional Building the tangibles are as important as the non-tangibles because they are what allow institutions realize their potentials o the highest possible level. A proper balance is required in order to achieve Institutional change. Any programme therefore must strike a good balance to address these tangible and non-tangible components.

Tangible-Non-Tangible Balance

Leadership process in Institutional Building Leadership is an activity which propels change. Leadership Process Leader Outcome Follower . Context

Leaders must have good knowledge of local conditions Leaders must have good knowledge of local conditions. They must also have talent for recognizing the right window of opportunity

ACTORS IN INSTITUTIONAL BUILDING: STATE AND NON-STATE ACTORS Government-Executive and Parliament What role has these two arms of government being playing in your country to support institutional building. Non-State Actors: UN, International Donors, NGOs (national and international) What has been their role in your country to support institutional building

External Policy makers like the United Nations are strategic in that they provide the prospect on institutional change within a shorter time frame. The key element here is the extent of cooperation and partnership.

ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES FOR INSTITUTION BUILDING Institutional Capacity Building response must be based on the following core principles Institutional Arrangement: Institutions in most post- conflict environment are often inefficient because of weak policies, procedures, resource management, organizational leadership, frameworks and communication. A good response to creating a conducive terrain for institutional building process is to fix the existing institutional arrangement to remove impeding bottlenecks.

Leadership: Leadership is a catalyst for change and the achievement of development objectives. Development of leadership should be part and parcel of capacity building programme. This is usually not the case as leaders see themselves above the reform process.

Knowledge: Knowledge is the foundation for capacity building Knowledge: Knowledge is the foundation for capacity building. Capacity building initiatives need to draw on valuable knowledge associated with different disciplines. Opportunities for continuous learning and development of professional skills should therefore be provided for.

Accountability: Institutional capacity building should be purposeful and transparent. Lack of accountability measures in institutions allows for proliferation of corrupt practices and hampers institutional building goals.

Engage Stakeholders: Government alone cannot be the only player in institutional building. Institutions are part of the environment and they interrelate with other government and non-governmental institutions. State and non-State actors should be recognized and engaged in institutional capacity building programme. Engaging other stakeholders will help to identify mutual capacity gaps which prevent working cooperatively toward common developmental goals

CHALLENGES OF INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING Expectation : Institution Capacity Building is perceived differently by people and this determines how capacity building programmes are devised and managed. We are to manage expectations and help maintain a balance between tangible and non-tangibles. Donor preference: Institutional Capacity Building is long term involvement and are best when demand-driven assistance is in place. Donors can hardly wait for such long term involvement and are supply driven.

The possibility of donor dependency syndrome is often high under a supply- driven assistance culture. Intervention is often not adapted to the level of development and absorption capacity of the institutions involved.

Political will and commitment to reform process is often lacking in most post conflict environment to ensure sustainability. Low salary structure of the public sector is a source of concern for achieving result in that it makes public institutions prone to corruption and misappropriation. Complex bureaucratic structures and decision making process hampers reform process.