6 May 2013: The Adaptation Fund has released the meeting report from the 20th meeting of the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB), during which it approved a new project in Argentina, and placed projects in Belize, Ghana and Uzbekistan in the pipeline.

The meeting, held in Bonn, Germany, on 4-5 April 2013, was held alongside meetings of the Project and Programme Review Committee and the Ethics and Finance Committee of the Board. The AFB approved funding for $5.64 million to the Project ‘Unidad para el Cambio Rural’ of Argentina.

With respect to projects submitted through Multilateral Implementing Entities (MIEs), three projects were placed in the pipeline for when additional funding become available. These include $6 million for the Belize Marine Conservation and Climate Adaptation Project implemented by the World Bank; $8.29 million to the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to implement a water resources and livelihood diversification project in Ghana; and $5.41 million for the project ‘developing climate resilience of farming communities in the drought-prone parts of Uzbekistan,’ implemented by UNDP. These projects join four others submitted by MIEs that were placed in the pipeline in December 2012. The Board also endorsed the project concept note from Rwanda’s National Implementing Entity (NIE).

The new AFB Chair, Hans Olav Ibrekk (Norway), and Vice-Chair Mamadou Honadia (Burkina Faso), began their terms at the meeting. Six new members and alternate members to the Board were also welcomed. The Secretariat reported on invitations to donor countries to support NIEs in the design and submission of project proposals, and on the request for the Board to have observer status under the UNFCCC. The Board noted a decreasing trend in submission of proposals it had received, noting that MIEs were aware of the Fund’s limited pipeline.

The Board also approved the workplan for the upcoming year, and the fundraising task force considered steps for a fundraising and outreach strategy. During the meeting, it announced that it would sign onto the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). The meeting also included a civil society dialogue, and a discussion on how the Adaptation Fund’s processes comply with environmental and social safeguards. [Adaptation Fund Press Release] [Adaptation Fund Decisions] [IISD RS Sources] [IATI Press Release]