8 July 2013: At its 21st meeting, the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB) requested the Secretariat to develop a readiness programme to assist national and regional implementing entities, in an effort to strengthen the quality of design and implementation of projects.

At the meeting, which was held in Bonn, Germany, from 3-4 July 2013, the Board also codified a set of environmental and social safeguards already inherent in the project it funds. Entities receiving Adaptation Fund financing will identify and manage the environmental and social risks of their activities, including considerations for access and equity, marginalized and vulnerable groups, human rights, gender equality and women’s empowerment, indigenous people, labor rights, involuntary resettlement, protection of natural habitats, and biological diversity conservation.

The Board accredited a new Regional Implementing Entity, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), based in Tunisia. The AFB endorsed a project concept for Building the Resilience in the Greater Mungeni Catchment South Africa, and a Small Grants Facility for Enabling Local Level Responses to Climate Change, both from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Concept proposals from Costa Rica and Indonesia were not endorsed at the meeting.

A full proposal on Climate Change Adaptation in Vulnerable Regions of Mopti and Timbuktu, Mali, was approved for the Adaptation Fund pipeline, though funding is not currently available. A full project proposal by the National Implementing Entity (NIE) of Benin was not approved, nor was a proposal from Nepal. The next meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board will take place in Bonn, Germany, from 29 October to 1 November 2013. [21st Meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board Decisions] [Adaptation Fund Press Release]