Capacity Development

The term capacity development is defined by the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) as the process whereby people, organisations and society as a whole unleash, strengthen, create, adapt and maintain the ability to manage their affairs over time. Any intervention or activity purposely designed to contribute to the development or strengthening of the capabilities of people, institutions and systems is considered to be capacity-building.

Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing, have identified capacity building and development as a priority for the effective implementation of these three instruments, as well as the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

The CBD Secretariat has adopted a strategic, integrated and results-oriented approach to capacity development in accordance with decision XIII/23 of the Conference of the Parties (COP). Under this approach, it is recognized that the choice of tools and methodologies for delivering capacity development varies according to the needs and contexts of the target audience, and that the involvement of partner organizations and stakeholders is crucial to the success of any capacity development intervention.

The main role of the CBD Secretariat is to coordinate and facilitate capacity-building support to Parties for the effective implementation of the Convention and its Protocols, in accordance with relevant COP and COP-MOP decisions.

Short-Term Action Plan for Capacity Building

The Conference of the Parties in decision XIII/23 recognized the need for an integrated and coherent approach to capacity-building and adopted a Short-Term Action Plan (2017-2020) to Enhance and Support Capacity-Building for the Implementation of the Convention and its Protocols.
Decision XIII/23 and decision 14/24 also requested the Executive Secretary to:

• Initiate a process for preparing a long-term strategic framework for capacity-building beyond 2020, ensuring its alignment with the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and the capacity-building work under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing
• Commission a study to provide the knowledge base for the preparation of the long-term strategic framework
• Develop draft elements of the framework
• Organize consultative workshops and discussion forums to discuss the draft elements
• Submit the draft long-term strategic framework for consideration by the Subsidiary Body on Implementation at its third meeting (SBI 3) and the Conference of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting (COP 15)

Progress reports on the implementation of the Short-Term Action Plan (2017-2020) were prepared and considered by the second meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI 2) and by COP 14 in 2018.

In 2021, during the first part of its third meeting, held online from 16 May to 13 June, SBI 3 considered a preliminary final report on the implementation of the Short-Term Action Plan (SBI/3/INF/14). This report was complemented with a list of capacity-building activities, including their outputs, sources of funding and relevant implementation partners.