Mauritania Advances its National Adaptation Planning Process

13 April 2015, Nouakchott, Mauritania - “Mauritania is particularly vulnerable to climate change” said Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mr. Amédi Camara, at the official opening of a one week technical training on National Adaptation Planning supported by the National Adaptation Plan Global Support Programme.  In front of ministerial colleagues from Fisheries and Maritime Economy, Employment, Training and Communications, as well as parliamentary representatives and the international community Minister Camara reinforced the importance of national development planning that takes into account climate risks, and that this needs skills to be built across government.

The four-day training workshop in Nouakchott brought together 30 national experts from various sectors and departments as well as members of parliament and women’s networks. The training was delivered at the request of the Ministry of Environment by a team of trainers drawn from GIZ, UNDP, UNEP, UNITAR and ENDA, with support from the GEF funded National Adaptation Planning Global Support Project.

The objectives of the workshop were:

• To enhance the understanding of the NAP process and the UNFCCC”  Technical Guidelines on NAPs;
• To support an initial  policy and institutional review to identify long term capacity development needs for adaptation planning;
• To help to develop a roadmap to advance national adaptation planning in Mauritania.

Training methods used were highly interactive with a minimum in lecture style teaching. Trainers used the Harvard Case Method to promote more effective learning and retention of ideas.  The training also stimulated engagement across concerned sectors and departments of government, providing opportunities for high level discussion, sharing of knowledge and team building.

Photo 1: Opening speech by the Mauritanian Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, with representatives of sectoral ministries, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), European Union (EU) and German Federal Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

Photo 2 and 3: Members from various Mauritanian sectoral ministries participate in interactive exercises and working group discussions based on the Harvard Case Method.

Photo 4: Senior staff members from Mauritanian sectoral ministries engage in interactive exercises to stimulate understanding and interest in the national adaptation planning process, supported by UNITAR trainer.