Abstract

This research paper is about capacity building activities undertaken by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR hereafter) Croatia for its Implementing Partners (IPs hereafter). UNHCR is currently in a scaling down process in Croatia and envisages to phase out from operational activities by the end of 1999. UNHCR would like to ensure that its IPs will be able to takeover from UNHCR, in terms of finances and project management by that time. The research’s main objective was to analyze whether the capacity building efforts were effective or not and to identify areas in need of further improvement. The interpretive research paradigm was used. The data was collected between October and November 1997 through documentation review, participant observation, and interviews of selected IPs and UNHCR staff members. The study indicates that though UNHCR Croatia has an evident interest and a genuine intention to enhance the capacity of its IPs, its efforts have so far not been systematized, nor effective enough. The study also shows that the partnership between the different Humanitarian actors in Croatia, including UNHCR, International NGOs, UN agencies, the Government, and local NGOs should be reinforced and new mechanisms of coordination established. The recommendations are for UNHCR to define a very clear and transparent strategy and time frame for capacity building, with objectives duly discussed and activities jointly implemented with its IPs. Communication and coordination between all involved should be redefined, in order to put in place a new partnership corresponding to a new challenge: the consolidation of the reintegration process. Training will play a decisive role in the process, and the 1998 training program for IPs should focus on management, fundraising and relation with donors, the Government and other partners.

Disciplines

Public Policy | Social Welfare

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