Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENT Water tank branch canal,Cape Verde.■and trained them. Indeed, a vicious circle has developed,as weakened local engineering capacity ultimately leads tothe need to import skills for projects, and few internationalprojects pay any attention to skills transfer to locals.Some donor countries or funding models employ ‘tied aid’where professional capacity and equipment and materialsare prescribed by the donor – in many such cases little orno skills transfer takes place, and occasionally the receivingcountry is permanently tied to the donor country for maintenanceand management of the asset.The demands of the philosophy of sustainability can only bemet if the principles of Sustainable Engineering are adheredto. This concept can be defined as striving for appropriate,affordable and sustainable engineering services and infrastructurewithin the local environment. This concept inturn demands the development and maintenance of indigenousscientific and technological skills and expertise supportedand facilitated by the key stakeholders includinggovernment, private enterprise, academic and professionalstructures.Serious challenges face all the organizations attempting totackle capacity-building. There is for example a plethora offunding entities, each with their own preferences, rules andregulations, which in some cases make it difficult to accessfunding efficiently and effectively. The problem is exacerbatedby the fact that the smaller organizations, institutions andNGOs have limited capacity.A number of issues became evident during the interaction thatthe Africa Engineers Forum had since it developed its Protocoland actively started to engage with world bodies including theWorld Federation of Engineering Organizations, UNESCO, theDepartment for International Development UK, the AfricanDevelopment Bank, the World Bank and many others. Theseinclude:1. The vast differences in how the developing world perceivesand experiences capacity-building and what it means.2. The vast differences in how the developed world perceivesand experiences capacity-building and what it means.6.The measure of paternalism and turf protection evidentwithin and among funding entities.7. Delivery on ideas for capacity-building vanishes as quicklyas the realities become evident and often ends up in talkingabout talks and talking in itself, which often seems tobe the only outcome of hugely expensive get-togethers.8. The initiators of ideas and the providers of resources likefunding are not always aware of one another, in additionthere is often a mismatch of some sorts, misunderstandingshappen all the time and ultimately many, if not mostof valuable programmes and initiatives remain on shelvesor in files.9. Even if funding becomes available for capacity-building,substantial red tape, stop-start approaches and stringsattached are the order of the day and, in some cases, policychanges torpedo viable and effective programmes.10. The principle of ‘teach a man to fish’ is by far not enough,since longer term sustainability of that principle is moreoften than not, not taken into account. The principleshould not only be to teach the man to fish, but how tomake his own fishing rod, how to market his fish, how tosustain fish numbers by embarking on aqua culture andso forth.11. Many capacity-building programmes are based on whatvolunteers can contribute, but volunteerism only goes sofar as that which will be allowed by an employer, organizationor individual. The lack of continuity of volunteermembers of organizations and the lack of permanentadministrative capacity to support capacity-building is aserious drawback to get programmes going and to keepthem going.Components of sustainable engineeringThe twenty-six items of the Protocol of the Africa EngineersForum were expanded upon and explored to find a commonunderstanding of the various elements that may need attentionin terms of what was defined as CAPACITY.© UNESCO/D. Roger3.4.5.The vast differences in how the geographic regions perceivesand experiences capacity-building and what itmeans.The ‘over-supply’ of donor organizations and entities thatwould like to do ‘good’.The substantial lack of integration of effort in terms ofcapacity-building.These twenty-six items were categorized and grouped underfour main headings: Individual, Institutional, Technicaland Decision making. Two additional areas of crucial capacitywere added, i.e. Business and Resources and Supplies. It musthowever be noted that the protocol does not address theseareas of capacity since it is deemed to be outside the areain which professional societies operate. It was neverthelessagreed that these two pillars are integral elements to achieveand maintain sustainability in engineering.316