According to the United Nations, Capacity-building is defined as the process of developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that organizations and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in a fast-changing world. It is not just about the capacity of a non-profit today: it’s about the non-profit’s ability to deliver on its mission effectively now and in the future. It is an investment in the effectiveness and future sustainability of a non-profit.
There is a huge gap between the extent of animal abuse, and the understanding among the masses with respect to the gravity of the situation. It is hence prudent to bulk up efforts put into capacity building to tackle the scale and intensity of animal use and abuse across all areas.The process of capacity building enables strengthening the skills and instincts of people who are already sensitised to the importance of advocating for animals. It fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment, so that community partners gain greater control over their own future development, strengthened confidence, skills, knowledge, and resources that increase from capacity building efforts on one project may enhance a community partner’s ability to envision and act on other projects.
Role of Capacity Building in Animal Advocacy
Collaboration is key to capacity building. Strategic planning requires a flow of information and knowledge transfer to be accessible to people looking to work in these cause areas. Additionally, owing to the large extent of the cause, there is a huge requirement for an increase in inflow of skilled individuals.A structured approach to advocating for animals that introduces a paradigm of bringing about change through focused education and training would provide the necessary tools for people to equip themselves with the resources and ways of using them.Investing in capacity building from within the movement purposefully minimize an over-reliance on outside experts as sources of knowledge, resources, and solutions to community issues. By preventing a dependency relationship on outsiders from forming, capacity building encourages local people to act on local issues themselves.
The Ripple Effect of Capacity Building
A limited number of organisations currently work on animal related causes despite its high scale and intensity. Enabling more individuals through training and education programmes increases the probability of more organisations mushrooming and working collectively towards a shared goal. The environment in which animal advocacy organisations operate has become increasingly complex and challenging as demand for their services increases while their conventional funding streams become more limited, and new technologies emerge that offer new venues for fundraising or interacting with potential and existing supporters.Capacity building does not happen overnight. It is a process that may take several years, and often involves experts from many fields. Typically, capacity building will result in the
adoption of new skills and knowledge as well as systems to sustain and expand these improvements over time. The Animal Advocacy sector is ripe for the taking now and is in dire need of investing in capacity building. IAF hopes to bridge this gap.
Projects
With its strategic associations with various NGOs doing good work at ground zero, India Animal Fund is changing the speed and scale of their work. We engage with these NGOs to identify the most efficient means of execution, build economies of scale; all backed by a strong sense of integrity, transparency and measurability. Read on and find the project that resonates with you.
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Each day we are partnering with NGO’s who are amplifying our efforts. We cannot be more thrilled about this.
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