What is capacity building?
The UNECE Secretariat provides national capacity building support at the demand of member States to assist them in the reform process and in the implementation of the recommendations of the Innovation for Sustainable Development Reviews. Capacity building is based on a plan agreed with the country to promote on-going or planned reforms. Advisory missions, training workshops and other technical cooperation activities are conducted in response to countries’ request for assistance to improve their innovation policy.
For example, capacity building programmes have been agreed and delivered following the Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Belarus and of Georgia. A capacity building programme for Moldova will be agreed and implemented in 2022.
The Secretariat is also providing sub-regional capacity building on specific innovation policy issues relevant for a whole region or sub-region at the request of one of more member States. Sub-regional capacity building activities are designed for the Western Balkans, Central Asia, South Caucasus and Eastern Europe. For example, a series of seminars, workshops and trainings on supporting Innovative High Growth Enterprises was carried out in 2019-2021 for the region of Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus.
National and regional capacity building activities also include policy handbooks, such as on “Supporting Innovative High-Growth Enterprises in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus”, on “Business Incubators for Sustainable Development in the SPECA sub-region” and a handbook on innovation-enhancing procurement for Georgia.
In the area of capacity building, UNECE collaborates extensively with other international organizations and UN agencies such as the OECD, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCAP, as well as the UN Inter-Agency Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation.