The National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP) convened a four-day high-level training and knowledge exchange on developing and implementing NAPs.
Environment, finance, and planning ministers from English-speaking Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa attended the workshop.
17 April 2014: The National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme (NAP-GSP) convened a four-day, high-level training and knowledge exchange on developing and implementing NAPs. Environment, finance and planning ministers from English-speaking Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in Africa attended the workshop.
The objectives of the workshop, which was held at the UN Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 14-17 April 2014, included: improving the understanding of the NAPs process; taking stock of the existing guidance, tools and methods relevant to developing NAPs; assessing countries’ current progress on their respective NAP processes; exchanging lessons learned and experiences; and exchanging information on the mechanisms and options for financing NAPs. Ministers also learned about the support available through NAP-GSP and its partners, such as the Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), for assisting their countries in the NAP process.
In commenting on the NAP process, Ato Kare Chawicha, State Minister of Environment Sector at the Ethiopian Ministry of Environment and Forests, recognized the progress African countries have made on their development agendas, but lamented that climate change is likely to roll back some of the gains as it threatens “food security, livelihoods, health, access to safe water and infrastructure.”
NAP-GSP is a joint effort by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Thus far, 26 LDCs from Africa, Asia and the Pacific have sought support for creating and carrying out NAPs, which are intended to help developing countries cope with long-term development challenges and the impacts of climate change. NAP-GSP aids countries in their national planning and budgeting processes as they seek to plan for the financial, institutional, and technical needs of climate change adaptation.
Angola, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia were represented at the English-speaking workshop. NAP-GSP is holding a similar high-level workshop for ministers from the French-speaking African LDCs on 21-24 April 2014, which is expected to convene representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tomé et Principe, Senegal, Chad, Togo and one non-African country, Haiti. [UNEP-UNDP Press Release] [GWP Press Release] [Workshop Webpage]