Ownership does not imply that national leadership should work in isolation. On the contrary, partnerships among all stakeholders in society at the local and national levels are of the utmost importance to ensure that governments work with all groups in society and that development is a collective effort. Partnerships with international organizations, donors, experts can also be harnessed to the advantage of the reconstruction process as long as the national leadership is aware of its own needs and carefully determines how external forces can help them achieve their collective vision of the future of their country.

 

Foreign technical assistance plays a key role in developing public leadership capacity in post-conflict situations. In Uganda, for example, donor-funded projects have helped train parliamentarians and teach leadership skills to members of civil society organizations. In Southern Sudan, the government is relying on Kenya’s assistance to give Arabic-speaking magistrates a crash course in English, which the South has adopted as its official language.