Capacity Solutions Platform

Challenge: A consortium of partners coalesced to implement a country-wide project in Eswatini to prevent HIV infections and reduce vulnerability among orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) while supporting national HIV targets. The project needed to coordinate among 11 local civil society organizations (CSOs) to deliver comprehensive HIV and family-based support services across 28 districts. Beyond providing capacity development (CD) support to the CSOs, the project also needed to identify strong partners within the cohort that could transition to direct donor funding by project end. This required rapidly strengthening these organizations’ technical and organizational capacities while maintaining uninterrupted service delivery to vulnerable populations – all while continuing to provide CD support across the remaining partners. 

Solution: The lead project partner used the CSP to systematically assess, develop, and track organizational and technical capacity across all CSOs. Using the Organizational Performance Index (OPI), the team assessed each partner’s organizational maturity and identified three high-performing CSOs that were ready for accelerated transition support. Transition readiness plans were co-developed and implemented with the three CSOs, which provided milestones, fostered accountability, and built confidence to independently manage larger funding amounts. The remaining CSOs co-developed Change Action Plans (CAPs) that served as blueprints for targeted technical assistance based on their specific capacity gaps. The platform served as the backbone for tracking performance progress, documenting training and mentoring events, and managing capacity development knowledge and data for all partners. 

Results: The three CSOs successfully “graduated” to direct donor funding by maintaining service quality and coverage, demonstrating sustainable transfer to local institutions. The remaining CSO partners strengthened their ability to deliver integrated services for OVC, AGYW, and their families. The capacity development investments made through the platform positioned local CSOs to continue delivering high-quality, evidence-based programming beyond the project's conclusion, contributing to Eswatini's progress toward national HIV targets and strengthening the country's civil society sector for sustainable development impact.

Challenge: A learning study conducted by an INGO revealed significant weaknesses in a Nigerian state’s health governance, budgeting and accountability systems, characterized by overlapping responsibilities and poor cooperation across state and local government agencies delivering maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services. To improve health outcomes, the INGO needed to increase the state and local government authorities’ capacity to provide quality MNCH services. 

Solution: The INGO used a customized Rapid Organizational Capacity Assessment (ROCA) and the Government Performance Index (GPI) to identify capacity gaps and opportunities within the state-level health agency and local government health departments. The assessments to improve accountability and the quality of local MNCH services, and to provide baseline and annual measurements. The GPI enabled participating government agencies and their partners to review, document, and analyze government performance in the four domains of effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, and sustainability, and is tailored to address service delivery, civil society engagement, financial sustainability, and constituent engagement. Change Action Plans (CAPs) were developed from the identified gaps to improve agency performance, with progress tracked in the CSP. 

Results: ROCA and GPI scores increased among nearly 80% of supported agencies, with notable improvements in stewardship and coordination, program planning, M&E, and financial management. These capacity gains directly strengthened inter-governmental coordination, leading to joint-planning forums and significantly reducing overlapping responsibilities. Enhanced transparency mechanisms – including shared performance data, unified pricing, and public fee schedules – as well as improved capacity to generate and use data for decision-making capacity led to increased accountability on the quality of MNCH services across the state’s primary health care system. The combined capacity development and governance strengthening positioned state and local agencies to deliver more coordinated, transparent, and quality MNCH services to the populations they serve.