Tunis — A high-level forum in Tunis this week focused attention on finding innovative solutions to the challenge of building the capacity to develop post-conflict societies.

The forum, organized by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), brought together President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank Group, government officials and representatives from multilateral institutions and government officials.

In his opening statement, Mr. Kaberuka pointed out the importance of growing capacity for the development of the continent, which has suffered greatly from conflicts.

Appealing to African leaders, he said that "capacity building cannot come from the ground but needs to be built." He reaffirmed the commitment of the bank to assist post-conflict countries enhance their capacities.

President Compaore said capacity building requires "a strong engagement from political leaders at the highest level." He also emphasized the importance of managing post-conflict scenarios at the regional level, since most conflicts spread to neighboring countries.

Anastase Murekezi, Rwanda's Minister of Public Services and Labor, represented President Paul Kagame and shared his country's experiences of capacity reinforcement after the 1994 genocide.

The forum ended with Frannie Leautier, executive secretary of the ACBF, inviting all stakeholders to continue the debate in order to come up with concrete ways of moving forward.

The high-level forum preceded an extraordinary meeting of the board of governors of the ACBF in Tunis on March 25 and 26. These events are part of the ACBF's 20th anniversary celebration activities.

The ACBF is an independent capacity-building institution which aims to build sustainable human and institutional capacity for poverty reduction in Africa.