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Institutional Development
The IDWG seeks to establish a platform for CBNRM Support Organisations and government technical staff to share experiences, approaches, methodologies, and materials related to conservancy institutional development and governance. The group will provide a forum for discussing institutional development issues and will promote cost-effective, accountable service delivery, management systems, and performance monitoring and evaluation tailored to conservancies. Ultimately, the working group aims to strengthen ownership and commitment to CBNRM among Namibia’s rural communities.
Focal areas
Strengthen the capacity of NACSO-IDWG and its member organisations to effectively fulfil their roles within the broader CBNRM framework
Strengthen overall training support within NACSO through the Namibia Training Institute (NTI)
Set up learning and sharing platforms for sharing different experiences and approaches
Elevating Community Voices
Research and Development
Strengthen partnerships with National and Regional Associations to improve community-level support, learning, and capacity development
Mode of operation
Resource Mobilisation and Financial Coordination
The IDWG mobilises financial resources to support agreed-upon institutional development activities at the field level. It coordinates available funding streams among partners to minimise duplication. In doing so, the IDWG serves as a coordination and learning platform—consolidating, documenting, and scaling up effective practices and lessons learned.
Oversight, and Performance Management
The IDWG provides oversight to ensure effective implementation, timely delivery of outputs, and achievement of agreed targets. This includes monitoring deliverables and tracking performance against work plans, as well as ensuring compliance with the Environmental and Social Safeguards Framework (ESSF) and MEFT requirements.
Information Management, Reporting, and Knowledge Systems
The IDWG facilitates and supports the establishment and maintenance of a centralised information repository for conservancy institutional and governance documentation. This includes constitutions, benefit distribution plans, audit reports, and related governance records. The group also coordinates data collection using standardised templates and tools, contributing to a uniform reporting system across conservancies.
Financial Governance, Audits, and Adaptive Management
The IDWG supports integrated institutional, governance, and financial audits within conservancies as part of an adaptive management approach. This includes coordinating the implementation of standardised internal financial management systems, and user-friendly financial reporting formats that are appropriate to conservancy contexts, while meeting donor ,MEFT accountability requirements.
Capacity Development and Institutional Strengthening
The IDWG continuously strengthens the competencies—knowledge, skills, and attitudes—of member organisation staff, conservancies, and government counterparts through a structured and systematic capacity development programme.
This includes:
The development, testing, monitoring, evaluation, and rollout of institutional development approaches, methodologies, systems, and tools;
The development of standardised training materials and facilitation of Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes.
Benefit Tracking, Accountability, and Community Feedback
The IDWG supports conservancies in strengthening benefit tracking and reporting systems by integrating approved benefit distribution plans with simple, standardised tracking tools. These tools enable conservancies to accurately report on benefit distribution, enhance transparency and accountability, and provide clear feedback to members through Annual General Meetings (AGMs) and other community accountability platforms.
Hosting, Coordination, and Reporting Arrangements
The IDWG is hosted by the NACSO Secretariat, from which the Working Group Coordinator and Assistant operate. The IDWG Coordinator is responsible for coordinating IDWG activities, compiling technical and progress reports, and submitting them first to the Working Group for technical review before presenting them to the NACSO Executive Committee for consideration and approval.