Local development professionals know local facts firsthand, but they need greater capacity.
In one South American country, local development professionals understood how gold-mining practices created runoff that harmed peasants. But they lacked resources to solve the problem. ICLAD provides a forum that local development professionals can use to assemble an international network of partners and resources. ICLAD's Research and Training division also collaborates with development professionals to create tools and programs tailored to their needs.

International development professionals need local partners to help them invest resources.
International development organizations wanted to help the Ministry of Education build its capacity in a country in the Asia-Pacific region. But funds for textbooks and teacher training would not help when there existed no reliable way to get the books to students in outer islands and a shortage of people available to teach. Through an ICLAD workshop, local professionals and lawmakers collaborated to develop a strategy that would meet country-specific needs.

Lawmakers and development professionals need ways to collaborate to solve problems.
A development organization working in an African country had devised a groundbreaking way to deliver health services to the poor in a rural area. The program saved lives, but the organization did not have the capacity to extend the program throughout the country. ICLAD programs bring lawmakers together with those who have specific knowledge about social problems and their solutions. ICLAD's online resources also connect lawmakers, researchers, and development professionals throughout the world so they can contribute to development.