27 June 2011: At its 14th meeting, held in Bonn, Germany on 22 June 2011, the Adaptation Fund Board approved US$17.4 million in grant funding and accredited the National Environment Fund of Benin as the fourth National Implementing Entity and the West African Development Bank as the first Regional Implementing Entity.

The grant funding was approved for Maldives, Mongolia and Turkmenistan. All three projects will be implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The Maldives project focuses on implementing an integrated water resource management (IWRM) strategy in the context of declining freshwater. The Mongolian project is implementing land and water resource management regimes to address water supplied by mountain and steppe ecosystems, while the Turkmenistan project is addressing water scarcity in farming systems.

The Board also endorsed six project concepts, including one from Jamaica using the direct access modality that allows countries to access funds without going through international financial institutions. [Adaptation Fund Board Press Release]