UN CC:Learn Partner Countries Meet in Addis Ababa to Discuss Climate Change Education and Finance
17 March 2017, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - From 15-17 March 2017, representatives from the 9 UN CC:Learn partner countries conveyed in Addis Ababa to share experiences and knowledge on integrating climate change in the education system and mobilizing resources for climate change education. The meeting was organized by the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the Addis Ababa University.
The participants emanated from both ministries of Environment and Education / the education system, and the experience sharing was supported by various activities, as well as subject matter experts who shared their own experiences. On the first day, participants discussed the general education system and the various entry points for climate change, such a curriculum reform, training of teachers and development of supplementary materials.
The second day focused on resource mobilization for climate change education activities, including exercises on integrating climate change education into greater funding proposals (such as to the Green Climate Fund, GCF), as well as ways to tap into private climate finance. The third day was dedicated to gathering input from the countries for the next phase of UN CC:Learn.
“The workshop has been an eye opener”, said Ms. Shamiso Najira, Deputy Director and GEF Operational Focal Point at the Environmental Affairs Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining of Malawi. “We will now strive to integrate activities from our national climate change learning strategy in the greater GCF proposals”. Médard Comlan, form the Environment and Climate Directorate of Benin, added “it is time for us to try to innovate for resource mobilization for climate change education.
It is time to be ambitious – Africa can be daring”, he added. “Now, we need to keep the momentum and devote twice as much energy to climate change learning in our countries”, concluded Bob Natifu, Principal Climate Change Officer at the Ministry of Water and Environment of Uganda.
The workshop was organized at the request of the UN CC:Learn partner countries in order to capitalize on lessons learned from developing and implementing national climate change learning strategies.
More photos from this event are available on Flickr.
About UN CC:Learn
UN CC:Learn is a partnership of more than 30 multilateral organizations supporting countries to design and implement systematic, recurrent and results-oriented climate change learning. At the global level, the partnership supports knowledge-sharing, promotes the development of common climate change learning materials, and coordinates learning interventions through a collaboration of UN agencies and other partners. At the national level, UN CC:Learn supports countries in developing and implementing national climate change learning strategies. Through its engagement at the national and global levels, UN CC:Learn contributes to the implementation of Article 6 of the UNFCCC on training, education and public awareness-raising, and the 2012-2020 Doha Work Programme. Funding for UN CC:Learn is provided by the Swiss Government and UN partners. The Secretariat for UN CC:Learn is hosted by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
Photo 1: The meeting was opened by M. Kare Chawicha, State Minister of the Environment of Ethiopia
Photo 2: Ms. Dorcas Otieno supported the discussions on the education system
Photo 3: A small fair was organised to showcase international initiatives on climate change education
Photo 4: Ms. Shamiso Najira, Climate Change Learning Ambassador from Malawi
Photo 5: Mr. Bob Natifu, Climate Change Learning Ambassador from Uganda
Photo 6: The whole group at the event's closing