25 January 2011: The Adaptation Fund’s first project to use its direct access financing mechanism, which allows countries to access the fund without the use of multilateral development institutions as intermediaries, launched in Senegal on 21 January 2011.

The project, titled “Adaptation to Coastal Erosion in Vulnerable Areas,” has a budget of $8,619,000 over two years. The launch meeting was hosted at one of the three project sites by the Centre de Suivi Ecologique, an accredited national implementing entity. The project implies working closely with local authorities, communities, and women’s associations to address coastal vulnerability, including erosion and land salinization. [Adaptation Fund Press Release]