The UNDP defines capacity development as the process by which people, organisations, and communities acquire, enhance, and sustain the capacities to establish and attain their own long-term development goals. Unlocking transformative change—change that is created, steered, and maintained by those it is intended to help—is at the core of capacity development.

The UNDP report on capacity development has divided the whole process into five stages:

• Engaging stakeholders in capacity development: Since the DRR mechanism requires multi-stakeholder involvement, it is necessary to identify the relevant actors at all levels like one in need of help, one having resources, one involved in information generation and dissemination, etc. After identification, they have to be engaged at an appropriate level of disaster management.
• Access the assets and needs: In each disaster event, a thorough assessment of assets and needs has to be done. It will help in locating the constraints in the capacity development process.
• Formulate capacity development roadmap: A roadmap for capacity development needs to be formulated with the help of all stakeholders. The roadmap must include both short term and long term plans and interventions. The roadmap must take into consideration the financial needs for implementation. It must also include a mechanism to exit the process.
• Implementation of capacity development roadmap: Implementation of the capacity development programme is the most important stage of the overall project. The implementation process must be clubbed with other development processes to ensure sustainability. Developing the monitoring plan is also necessary to constantly assess the implementation process. It will help it taking corrective steps whenever required.
• Evaluation of capacity development: In order to ensure that the implementation process achieves the targeted goal, an evaluation of the overall process must be done to ascertain the outcome. The National Disaster Management Authority has prepared a holistic capacity development scheme that identifies the broad capacity development themes. The key aspects of the theme include mitigation for DRR, effective preparedness and response, and recovery and building back better. The thematic areas of the scheme include every aspect of the above-mentioned key aspects, some of which are emergency response capability, strengthening fire services, rigorous training, the capacity of make available the basic services, capability to manage disposable things, and postdisaster development, etc.

Institutional Backing on Capacity Development: 

• The National Policy on Disaster Management (NPDM), 2009 further talks about developing institutional capacity at all levels.
• It also recognises that skill development in all sectors is necessary to build up multihazard resistant features. Further, NPDM states that the NIDM (National Institute of Disaster Management) shall be primarily responsible for capacity development along with training, research and documentation.
• It shall also act as a nodal centre for international and regional cooperation on training. The plan also envisages that Disaster Management (DM) cells in all Administrative Training Institute, Police Academies, State Institutes for Rural Development, the four Paramilitary Training Centres of the NDRF and the National Training Academy will contribute in developing DM related skills.
• The National Disaster Management Plan (NDMP) further states that the capacities of urban and local bodies have to be developed in the context of disaster management. The local self-governance bodies have to act first in case of a disaster event; therefore, without adequate capacity development of Panchayats and municipal bodies, DM plans cannot be properly implemented.
• The 2nd ARC noted in its report that “at present, panchayats do not have the capacity to react institutionally in any effective manner to such situations and it is the district administration, which retains the basic responsibility of handling crisis situations with the Collector playing a pivotal role.” The elected leaders have to be properly trained to handle crises.
• The local bodies must make proper use of available warnings, organise search and rescue operations, arrange for medical assistance, carry out damage assessment and arrange for post-disaster rehabilitation. The local bodies can play an important role in disaster management. The plan envisages developing the financial, technical and managerial capacity of the local bodies. Apart from local bodies, civil defence, civil society organisations, local community organisations and self-help groups should also be strengthened to build the capacity to cope with the disaster events.
•  The NIDM has also established a web portal named India Disaster Resource Network (IDRN), which is a nationwide electronic inventory of resources, including equipment and human resources collected from districts, states and national level departments and agencies. The primary focus of the IDRN portal is to enable the decision-makers to have the knowledge required to deal with any emergency situation. The database also helps in evaluating the level of preparedness for specific disasters. The state governments are also encouraged to have their own State Disaster Resource Network (SDRN) portal.

Building capacity ensures that an institution can carry out its mission both now and in the future. It is not just about increasing capacity now. Building capacity is an investment in efficiency and long-term viability.