Strengthening Leadership and Management Capacity
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ICOMP's approach to managerial leadership development is anchored on results-based competency development comprising a mix of self-learning and assessment, mentoring, peer exchange, exposure and on-the-job reinforcement.

Strengthening management of population programmes is the raison d’etre for ICOMP. However, there has also been a growing interest in what leadership can do to accelerate both programme implementation and effectiveness. From small beginnings in developing women leaders in the 1990s, ICOMP has now gone on to more innovative leadership activities in tandem with strengthening management.

(1) Developing Leaders and Managers

ICOMP generally uses a multi-tier approach (top, middle and field or community levels) that works not only on direct training but also on nurturing. A variety of leadership training has been incorporated into youth and women’s projects, using tools like workshops, seminars, institutional capacity building, and personal development. In the years between 1977 and 1992, ICOMP was developing leaders and managers in Asia, Africa and Latin America through its institutional capacity development programme.

Of more recent currently are the Visionary Leadership Programme and the Strategic Leadership Development (SLD) Initiative in Asia. ICOMP’s international seminar series, instituted in 1974 and held once every three years, is starting to have more of a leadership focus begining with the 2003 seminar in Uganda on Strategic Leadership of HIV/AIDS Programmes.

ICOMP developes a multi-dimensional framework for Enhancing Sustainability of Civil Society Organisations that it implies the ability of the organisation to continue, maintain or prolong its institutional structure and production of benefits for its intended client population vis-à-vis demographic changes, fluctuation in the source and level of funding and consumer demands.

(2) Strengthening Reproductive Health Programme Management

Earlier initiative commenced with the South Asian Management Programme (SAMP) in 1987-1992 and was followed by the Benchmarking of Management Practices in 1994-1996, through the documentation of 28 effective practices in 14 countries.

Commissioned by UNFPA to strengthen RH programme management in Mongolia (2002), a management tool kit was developed. Improvement in management development for RH programme in Myanmar (2003) further resulted in a training manual.

A fairly recent focus area is Reproductive Health Supplies Security which was initiated with participation at two important international meetings (Istanbul, Turkey and Kochi, India, both in 2001). Later in 2003, ICOMP began ensuring RH supplies security to the community level and initiated an action research in strengthening logistics system in Indonesia.

(3) Strengthening NGO Capacity


Organisational Effectiveness (OE) is the "ability of an organisation to fulfil its vision through a blend of sound management, strong governance and persistent rededication to achieving results", as defined by Grantmakers for Effective Organisation.

(4) Journey Towards Excellence

Highlighted below are ICOMP's experiences in the Philippines and Indonesia focusing on two partner NGOs.

(5) Leadership Development and Organisational Effectiveness

The experience with leadership development and organisational effectiveness programmes raised two questions. One, did individual-focused leadership training have much impact on getting results in the reproductive health sector? Two, how could greater and longer-term impact on the sector be achieved? These questions giave rise to the idea that individual leaders could achieve more if their home organisations were similarly strong and effective.

Improving leadership competencies and strengthening organisational capacity for both government agencies and NGOs as an approach to contribute towards a national policy on health is a major aim of the Leadership Development and Organisational Effectiveness (LDOE) programme in India. Some of these contributions are expected to be in reducing infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, having universal access to public health services and working towards population stabilisation as well as gender and demographic balance. Participating districts and NGOs in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand will go through an LDOE training and learning process from 2007, to build capacities to achieve these goals.

Building NGO capacity in organisational effectiveness (OE) has become an important and expanding area for ICOMP’s work, including women NGOs. In 1994, ICOMP started a project on strengthening capacities of women NGOs in seven countries. An OE project which began in 1999 in Pakistan and Philippines resulted in a framework and a second phase has subsequently benefited even more organisations.

Sustainability and governance are certainly critical issues for civil society organisations. ICOMP began work on enhancing sustainability of NGOs in the Philippines in 2003. ICOMP’s work on governance spans three geographical regions – Bolivia in Latin America, Ethiopia in Africa, and Philippines in Asia.