The participating diaspora organizations will be introduced to the Capacity Enhancement Needs Assessment (CENA) methodology and approach which has been designed and piloted by the World Bank Institute (WBI) in several countries including Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, Sudan, Senegal, Tajikistan and Brazil. Generally, the CENA is a participatory assessment designed to evaluate existing capacity, identify institutional constraints facing the actors involved, ascertain capacity strengths and weaknesses, and recommend possible remedies and capacity builders.

In this regard, the diaspora organizations will learn and apply the five basic steps of the CENA in assessing and evaluating their proposals; use the acquired skills and knowledge to design projects, implement, track and monitor progress during implementation, and undertake detailed evaluation upon completion of the projects.

The five critical steps of CENA include:
(i) Defining the area where competence is required and agreeing on the specific objective and tasks to be accomplished;
(ii) Identifying the Task Team which should be involved if the task is to be carried out successfully;
(iii) Identifying the capacity gaps in terms of what the actors perceive as critical obstacles to successful implementation. This analysis is done at the individual, institutional and organizational levels;
(iv) Identifying a remedial action plan. In doing so, the actors will consider not only  the professional requirements, but also the possible remedies for improving the institutional environment, as well as identifying the incentives that may bring about behavioral change and facilitate collective action;
(v) Identifying Possible Capacity Builders in terms of agencies which may be in a position to help bridge the capacity gap.

The CENA approach will ensure that systematic guidance is provided to the participating organizations during project proposal, project design and implementation. The monitoring and evaluation components of the CENA will enable the target audience to prepare a clear results framework with indicative measures, targets, and benchmarks in their proposals.

Information on the locations and dates of these workshops will be posted on the website in due course.