25-29 July 2011, Bangkok, Thailand. The UN Development Group (UNDG), in collaboration with several partners, organized a workshop for the Asia-Pacific region to support UN Country Teams in mainstreaming environmental sustainability, climate change, and disaster risk reduction in country programming. The event was supported by UNITAR with resources from the One UN CC:Learn Initiative.
Work to integrate and mainstream climate change adaptation, environmental sustainability and disaster risk reduction can have profound linkages to poverty reduction and improved livelihoods. To advance this approach, share lessons and good practices, the UN Development Group (UNDG) Task Team on Environmental Sustainability, Climate Change and Rio+20, in collaboration with several partners, organized a regional workshop for the Asia-Pacific region from 25-29 July 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. The workshop brought together 15 participants from 10 UN Country Teams who are embarking on the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) roll-out process. It was the last in a series of three regional workshops scheduled for 2011 that also covered Africa and the Middle East and Latin America and the Caribbean.
The workshop aimed at enabling participants to identify opportunities and tools for mainstreaming environmental sustainability (ES), climate change (CC) and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in country programming. Alexander MacKenzie from Canada, who led the workshop together with a diverse facilitation team, emphasized that “this event built on the lessons from the previous workshops in Nairobi and Panama. It advanced our understanding about how to integrate these three approaches, and how to tackle a range of complex issues to position or 'sell' it to governments in the region”.
Like the two previous workshops, the event was not a formal training, but rather created opportunities for participants to share their experiences and identify good practices. Participants were directly involved in adapting the workshop to address their unique country situations and learning needs. Dr. Ananda Mallawatantri from the UN Development Programme (UNDP) offered lessons from Sri Lanka about how to use Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a way to structure and focus the country analysis process. Mr. David Mcloughlin from the United Nation's Children Fund (UNICEF) shared the experience from India on how to position DRR as a strategic priority for the UNDAF.
A series of 'Country Clinics' sessions enabled participants to brainstorm concrete solutions for ‘thorny’ mainstreaming challenges for the UNDAF. Many of the solutions involved the early recognition of opportunities to offer evidence and build ownership for mainstreaming, and to identify ‘champions’ in both the UN Country Team and amongst the ‘power’ ministries and commissions in government, such as Planning, Finance, and International Cooperation. Country participants prepared work plans to engage the full UN Country Team and guide their mainstreaming efforts.
The content of the workshop was based on three interrelated UNDG guidance notes:- “Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction into the CCA and UNDAF” (2009);
- “Mainstreaming Environmental Sustainability in Country Analysis and the UNDAF” (2009); and
- “Integrating Climate Change Considerations in the Country Analysis and the UNDAF” (2010).
For additional information please contact: Marjolaine Côté (marjolaine.cote<a>undp.org). (Please replace <a> with @ in the email address). UN CC:Learn, the One UN Training Service Platform for Climate Change, is a collaborative initiative of 30 UN agencies. The Secretariat is provided by UNITAR. UN CC:Learn website: http://www.uncclearn.org/