29 April 2014: The UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (UN-REDD) released the first issue of its 2014 newsletter, which highlights an agreement between the National Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples in Panama (COONAPIP) and the Government of Panama’s National Environment Authority (ANAM).

The agreement allows for the development of an Environmental Agenda between indigenous peoples and ANAM, which includes a revised result framework for the UN-REDD National Programme of Panama. The UN-REDD progamme had been suspended since March 2013 due to COONAPIP assertions that the rights of indigenous peoples were not respected. The agreement was presented at the eleventh meeting of the UN-REDD Policy Board.

The newsletter also contains information on the appointment of the first head of Indonesia’s National REDD+ Agency, which is unique in that it is a dedicated REDD+ organization reporting directly to the President of Indonesia.

Other national REDD+ achievements highlighted in the newsletter include: the completion of targeted support to engage indigenous peoples in REDD+ in Peru; a REDD+ concert organized by the Cambodia REDD+ Taskforce Secretariat; and the establishment of an indigenous peoples forum and a civil society organizations platform in Sri Lanka. The bulletin also reports on national workshops, including consultations on the Readiness Preparation Proposal (R-PP) in Argentina, and stakeholder engagement in Mongolia’s National Forest Monitoring System Action Plan.

International REDD+ activities noted in the report include a joint workshop to exchange experiences on transparency, accountability and integrity of REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya and Nepal.

Finally, the newsletter highlights the release of two publications, the ‘Guidance Note on Gender Sensitive REDD+’ and a report on benefits and safeguards for REDD+ in Tanzania. [Publication: UN-REDD Programme Newsletter – Issue No. 1 2014] [IISD RS stories on COONAPIP]