10 February 2011: The Board of the Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) met on 10 February 2011, in New York, US, to review progress achieved and challenges faced in 2009 and 2010, and discuss the work ahead for 2011.

Participants heard presentations of national projects by representatives from Morocco and Kenya. The Moroccan representative highlighted that the AAP is supporting the preparation of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) in Morocco and that the country has integrated the AAP with other national climate change initiatives, including the Moroccan Climate Plan. The Kenyan representative explained that in Kenya, visual mapping is in progress with the first phase completed (mapping existing stakeholder networks).

On progress achieved in 2010, participants mentioned the AAP launch of the Cross-Practice Strategy, which brings together experts from UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) core practice areas to provide multi-desciplinary technical services. Ian Rector, Programme Manager of the AAP, presented the key successes and challenges of the AAP that are affecting the implementation of the programme, including: insufficient human resources to manage an increasing number of projects for climate change; and limited knowledge and understanding of climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR). To overcome these challenges and build on successes, he highlighted the 2011 Strategy, which focuses on two streams of assistance. Stream 1 will continue direct assistance to national projects through technical support and project guidance. Stream 2 will implement strategic initiatives, including leadership transformation, organizational effectiveness, and integrated service delivery.

The AAP is a flagship programme of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), carried out in partnership with the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP), with funding of $92.1 million from the Government of Japan. The programme is working with 20 African Governments to strengthen their ability to identify their climate risks and vulnerabilities, and develop the capacity to design and implement holistic climate change adaptation and DRR strategies that correspond with their national development priorities. [IISD RS Sources]