Coastal Management in the Western Indian Ocean Region A Capacity Needs Assessment October 2001

Abstract

Developing capacity in coastal and marine issues of the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region is a very important activity, given the present growing and projected pressures on the coastal and marine resources.The region s experience in both knowledge-based, technical and equipment capacity building has been progressively growing. Many large milestones have been reached in this current effort to assess the capacity of the WIO region both in the form of increasing the knowledge base on core competencies of a good coastal manager as well as identifying the capacity-building efforts going on in the region. Management of coastal and marine issues is critical to ensure a sustainable future in a region where tens of millions of people depend on coastal resources for their livelihoods. Thus, there is an important need of increasing not only the number of competent and welltrained coastal management practitioners, especially with respect to project and program management and its various aspects, but to also facilitate the creation of enabling environments in which these managers can work. Expanding this knowledge base is a capacity-building challenge that is best addressed at both regional and national levels, and by collaboration among various agencies including governments, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations. Many national and international organizations and governments have contributed to short-course training in different issues, using this as the best medium to not take an employee out of the work setting for too long a time. It is well recognized that human resources are the most valuable assets of any governmental process like integrated coastal management (ICM). ICM is a process driven by people where sustainable human development implies societal development, and that in turn implies a deepening of the organizational structures of society. Capacity development is the process by which individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and societies increase their ability to understand and deal with their development needs in a broad context and in a sustainable manner.