Take aways of our first Partnership Workshop - Dodoma - Tanzania (26th -28th September 2023)

Partnership and capacity development has developed into a fundamental principle of Helvetas’ engagement with communities. HELVETAS Tanzania is collaborating with a multitude of partners ranging from civil societies, private sectors, government and international organizations. Strengthening partnerships and capacity building has become central in the way that Helvetas envisions its programming and shapes its modalities of intervention. Helvetas seeks to craft strong and equitable partnerships with actors across CSOs, public and private sector, and invest in mutual capacity development to secure and upscale results of its collaborative interventions, and to ensure that changes are sustained beyond the lifespan of our projects and programmes. Externally, the international development landscape is changing with increasing expectation that INGO roles will evolve because of the current and growing discourse on power relations, ownership and equal accountability. This makes the reflection on partnerships and capacity development particularly topical and timely.

Takeaways from the workshop:

• Broad and lively participation of partners from private sector, government and CSOs.
• Underline importance of partners for ownership, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability.
• Joint monitoring, review and periodical meetings enhance transparency and accountability.
• Good platform to identify most significant lessons for future partnership building.

The energy and vibrancy of the Helvetas team and their respective partners was unmatched. A well knitted relationship was obvious! Smiles and laughter, signified a bond built on strong friendship and amicable work values. Boredom was furthest away, as exercise, short meditations, photo taking, and delicious food & drinks accompanied the event. The facilitators’ work was nothing short of excellent. Thanks to Esther Marthaler and Naa-Aku Acquaye-Baddoo.