Effective Community Capacity Building and Mentoring for Coastal and Marine Resource Governance: A Case Study of Beach Management Units (BMUs) in Kwale County, Kenya. COMRED. Mombasa, Keny

Abstract

This handbook offers guidance on conducting community mentoring for capacity building in coastal and marine resource governance. It is designed to provide actionable and accessible advice to practitioners on governance capacity building and mentoring within the communities they serve. The handbook applies to practitioners from government or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to communitybased organizations (CBOs). It draws from the valuable experiences and lessons learned from a community mentoring program designed specifically for the leadership (i.e. executive committees) of eight Beach Management Units (BMUs) in Kwale County, Kenya. The program was implemented between 2021 and 2022 by Coastal and Marine Resource Development (COMRED) with financial and technical support from Blue Ventures. This handbook documents the mentoring process undertaken and emphasizes the importance of moving beyond one-off training to deliver capacity building for governance. It is structured around a fourstep process that was adopted during the mentoring program. 1. Identifying BMU governance needs. 2.Co-designing and planning a capacity building and mentoring program. 3. Building and retaining needs-based knowledge and skills. 4. Evaluating effectiveness and impact.