Calabash - the way forward

Throughout the 2-year programme, many outputs were developed as described above. However, the true effectiveness of the outputs could not be verified until they were tested a 2 day pilot training course. This course was held in Windhoek, Namibia on May 24 and 25. A careful selection process was held to ensure that the 27 persons who could be on the course represented a range of SADC countries and stakeholder groups. The course resulted in so much interest that other countries outside of SADC attended as well. A core element of the course was the trailing of the Calabash civil society engagement handbook, which was directly linked to all other Calabash outputs.

At the end of the 2 days, participants rated the course as "excellent". The whole pilot testing process can be viewed as a funnel, where the pilot course is the output of the funnel. At the top of the funnel are all the other outputs such as Communication Strategy Rights to Participation Document and Generic PP TORS document etc.

Now, how does the Pilot Training Course relate to the broader aspect of capacity building in the SADC region? Prior to the course and throughout the development of the Calabash Programme, many partnerships were established from a broad range of industry, civil society, regulators and practitioner groups. Individuals representing these groups became very interested in the Calabash programme and agreed to use Calabash products in their own work, and inform their own respective networks about the effectiveness of Calabash. A list of example partnership organization is attached as Annex A. Many of these organizations agreed at the Pilot Training course that the Calabash programme would be invited to present the course at their own respective institution, and that further discussions with SAIEA and Calabash about formalizing capacity building efforts between SAIEA/Calabash and the respective institutions would be held.

Nico Willemse, a local Namibian, has been identified to manage the evolution and further development of Calabash once the current Project Manager, Peter Croal, returns to CIDA, in July 2005. Nico is now developing a Calabash+2 Funding Proposal to advance Calabash for the next 3 years. Already there are indications from the Norwegian Government that they might be interested in funding Calabash over the next 3 years.

Perhaps one of the key determinants of Calabash's success is the letter received from Ambassador Susan Sikaneta of the African Union who stated on February 15, 2005: "They say great ideas and hard work of a few people can impact the entire world. This seems to be the case with SAIEA. The inclusion (of Calabash) in the Commission for Africa Report on what you are doing not only underlies the importance of the subject matter you are dealing with, but the impact it is having as well as the appreciation of the international community of your commitment. We feel encouraged to be associated in any way with SAIEA".

Political support for Calabash and public participation is indeed a milestone that bodes well to take Calabash to new levels of capacity building in the years ahead.