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By Tracy Ledger

To date, the details of how to build a transition effective state have received little attention in transition narratives, beyond narrow recommendations for an increase in certain technical skills within the state.

Notably, there are no comprehensive definitions of transition capability to guide the development of a transition effective state. Part 6 of South Africa’s JT Framework emphasises that ‘effective governance (is) … central to achieving a just and equitable transition’. However, no detailed definition of ‘effective governance’ is offered in the framework, beyond an assessment that there are critical skills gaps across the state, and that accountability and inter-state coordination must be improved. This is a critical omission which this report aims in part to address, through presenting answers to the following questions:

-How can we define a transition effective state?
-What kind of transition capability is needed to create a transition effective state? and
-How can we increase the transition capability of the state?