Supporting the Local Development Academy

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the UN’s capital investment agency for the world’s least developed countries, supports the development of finance institutions for poor households and small business, as well as local government finance mechanisms for capital investments that decrease poverty. In an effort to make information on local development more easily and widely accessible, UNCDF requested a Capstone team to assist with the development of its new initiative, the Local Development Academy (LDA), a web-based ”knowledge-center” for local governments, individuals and institutions involved in local development. UNCDF asked the team to help generate a conceptual review of the LDA and to assist with content research. The team organized a workshop with leading local development academics and assembled information on academic and professional literature on a wide range of topics relevant for local development. The team presented findings and recommendations to UNCDF on the LDA conceptual design, content, and user-friendliness.