11 March 2013: The Dominican Republic has formally launched a Training Programme on Climate Change for Teachers that will receive technical and financial support from the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as part of the One UN Training Service Platform on Climate Change (UN CC:Learn) Partnership.

An agreement creating the training programme was signed on 7 March 2013, in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic, between the National Council for Climate Change and Clean Development Mechanism (CNCCMDL) and the National Teacher Training Institute (INAFOCAM).

The agreement, to be implemented between March-December 2013, with US$130,000 in funding from INAFOCAM and UN CC:Learn, will adapt an existing UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) course on Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development (CCESD) for the Dominican context. A national workshop to train trainers will then be organized, followed by ten regional workshops to train 400 teachers on CCESD in 18 regions of the Dominican Republic. The agreement also calls for follow-up implementation of CCESD in selected teacher training institutions and an international teacher exchange programme on CCESD with other Latin American countries.

The Training Programme is part of the DR’s National Strategy to Strengthen Human Resources and Skills to Advance Green, Low Emissions and Climate Resilient Development adopted in 2012, which was developed with assistance from UN CC:Learn. UN CC:Learn is a partnership of 33 multilateral organizations which supports member States in designing and implementing results-oriented and sustainable learning to address climate change. UNITAR serves as the UN CC:Learn secretariat. [UNITAR Press Release] [INAFOCAM Press Release (in Spanish)] [CC:Learn Press Release] [IISD RS Story on the Dominican Republic’s National Strategy to Strengthen Human Resources and Skills to Advance Green, Low Emissions and Climate Resilient Development]