Representatives from twenty-four francophone developing countries attended the regional workshop on national adaptation plans (NAPs), held in Rabat, Morocco, from 25 to 27 September 2017. The event is part of five regional training workshops conducted by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group (LEG) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) this year to support countries in advancing their NAPs.
The workshop led the participants through major considerations in formulating and implement NAPs. This included how to design effective national processes that are fully aligned with national development planning, the Sustainable Development Goals, Sendai Framework for Disaster Rick Reduction and other relevant frameworks and goals. It allowed the participants and organizations to share in-depth examples on adaptation solutions in on areas such as crop production, livestock, health, and early warning systems. It also provided an opportunity for the participants to hear directly from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on how to access funding from the GCF for the formulation of NAPs.
Significant efforts were made to ensure gender balance in the workshop:32% of attendees, and 9 out 16 speakers were women. The high level of engagement throughout the 3 days showed that countries are committed to formulate their national adaptation plans in a multidisciplinary and collaborative way. Madagascar and Burkina Faso presented the actions taken and lessons learned in the formulation of their NAPs. Other countries such as Togo, are in the process to submit their NAPs to the UNFCCC once they have completed peer-review cycles in their respective countries. This clearly demonstrates the richness of adaptation activities and expertise in the francophone Africa region.
Various organizations attending the event also provided information on available support, and on how countries can access such support. The organizations also shared information on available technical resources that the countries can use on their work on NAPs. These organizations included the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the Niger Basin Authority, the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Oxford Policy Management.
The workshop was hosted by the Secretariat of State in charge of Sustainable Development from the government of the Kingdom of Morocco.
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More details:
Workshop website: http://napexpo.org/workshops/franco
More information about NAPs available at: http://unfccc.int/nap
Twitter: @NAP_Central; #NAPWorkshops
