Human Capital

a strategy for self-sustainability

More self-sustainability means having more autonomy and less reliance on external funding, expertise or decisions. It means having a larger capacity to choose and negotiate with other initiatives what’s best for your project and what’s not. It means an increasingly equitable participation, which will lead to development models that are more comprehensive and relevant for all, that is, more sustainable. Know more

Several development initiatives increase their self-sustainability by getting, training and leveraging human resources, which are made up of all the people who hold stakes in the project: members, beneficiaries, donors, authorities, collaborators, experts, volunteers, etc.

Getting all these different people engaged in decision-making and intervention design is both a practical and an ethical measure:

On the one hand, it is a good way to diversify the initiative’s sources of support, because each of these people can provide time, effort, money, local or professional knowledge, influence, contacts, experiences, perspectives and creativity.
On the other, engaging people who benefit from the programs is important not only because they have the right and responsibility to express what matters to them and partake in solving their own development problems, but also because they have a better understanding of the different factors that impact the problem at hand, the local resources that can be tapped to address it, and the project’s possible gaps in terms of comprehensiveness.

Some initiatives make the most of their human capital’s diversity by organizing participatory diagnoses and other feedback dynamics when planning and adapting their projects (rating systems, meetings, fairs, etc.) or by distributing project responsibilities (decentralizing, sharing management, organizing rotating administrations, etc.). This allows them to identify and leverage their various members’ diverse viewpoints and potential contributions. Other initiatives strengthen their different collaborators with training and workshops, or education programs for local individuals, organizations or leaders to gradually incorporate them into the project’s decision-making, design or management processes. Still others make the most of individual, organizational or expert input in different areas of development by asking for consultancies to learn about the experience, knowledge and strategies that could be used to increase their project’s self-sustainability.

There are many different ways for a project to increase and leverage its human capital to benefit its self-sustainability. Take a look at how these initiatives have done it!

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