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GGGI Ethiopia Convenes Second NAP-GCF Steering Committee Meeting

GGGI Ethiopia  in collaboration with Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) held the NAP-GCF Readiness Project Second Steering Committee Meeting (SCM) at Dallol Hotel, Adama on March 31, 2022. On the meeting, 30 (5 female) SC members and other high government officials including H.E Dr. Getahun Garedew, Director General of EPA, H.E Mr. Kebede Yimam from Ethiopia Forest Development (EFD) and Dr. Gemedo Dalle, GGGI Country Representative attended the meeting.

Mr. Mensur Dessie, A/Director General for Climate Change Response, who is also Chair of the Steering Committee, presided over the sessions by providing introductory remarks, and briefing on the ultimate objectives of the Meeting.

The Meeting was kicked off by the opening remarks H.E Dr. Getahun Garedew. He noted that even though Ethiopia’s contribution to the adverse effects of climate change is insignificant, the country is bearing the brunt of its multifaceted impacts.

He said in the recent past, drought alone has severely hit the southern tip and southeastern lowlands of Ethiopia. Unquestionably, climate change impacts are on an increasing trend and so does the vulnerability of the society coupled with a low adaptive capacity in all aspects. He further mentioned the major findings and recommendations from the recently published Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) Implementation Progress Assessment Report, wherein Ethiopia should strengthen its climate change actions, including policy and strategy implementation capacity, MRV and knowledge management system, as well as climate finance and project design practices in the area. He has also emphasized on the importance of creating a concreate coordination mechanism as it has a vital role in addressing the issues of climate change.

In his welcoming speech, Dr. Gemedo Dalle, Country Representative of GGGI, recalled that GGGI with its partners is supporting the green growth endeavor of the country, and he called upon  the stakeholders, particularly the steering committee members to strictly follow-up the project performance and to provide their feedback without a reservation.

During the presentation and discussion session, Ms. Medhin Fisseha, NAP-GCF-Readiness Project Lead presented the project’s implementation status and challenges faced while executing the Project. She also introduced the project work plans of the upcoming quarter, and the SCM endorsed both documents.

Ms. Medhin added that the declaration of state of emergency in the country and the global pandemic of COVID-19 as well as institutional changes and restructuring of government offices has affected the project performance. By the same token, the climate change adaptation champion selection criteria has been  endorsed by the SCM with minor comments.

 Concerns and Discussions

During the Meeting, an in-depth discussion was made by the participants on the following issues:

Coordination: The participants stressed the need to avoid the occurrence of duplication and urged the importance of conducting intensive assessment prior to starting a new task. They also recommended for strong coordination and synergies between GGGI and other governmental, bilateral and multilateral agencies which are championing the causes of climate change and adaptability in a bid to effectively implement project activities.

Woreda Climate Smart Planning: The participants appreciated the initiative being taken to prepare the district level climate smart plan by the Project and prompted to work towards mobilizing funds for financing the actual implementation of same.

Climate Information Sharing: A participant from  National Methodology Institute of Ethiopia (NMIE)   stated that those activities under project outcome 2 requires a detail planning exercise. Besides, the upcoming climate information sharing forums by the NMIE needs to be incorporated in the project work plan.  Moreover, other related climate information sharing activities should be aligned with the National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) of Ethiopia. H.E Mr. Kebede Yimam on his part lauded the weather forecasting capacity of NMIE  and called for the establishment of additional centers at woreda level and to expedite the activities towards capacitating the respective institutions how to use climate information to an efficient level.

Stakeholders’ Participation:   The participants underlined that private sector engagement is vitally important while implementing project activities.  Referring the CRGE implementing guideline, the participants advised for updating stakeholders’ mapping and so does the project activity plan.

Structure:  Some participants flagged up concern over the restructuring of government offices following the establishment of new government, which they said will eventually change the reporting channel and MRV workflow.

Concept Note Preparation: In the past, the concept notes developed by the sectors through the just completed GCF Readiness project were expected to be submitted to the GCF. During the Meeting, an update was requested on the status of the concept notes. Accordingly, they asked clarification that whether new concept notes will be developed through the NAP GCF Readiness project or improve and build upon the previously developed concept notes.

Support:   The SC member represented from the health sector has appreciated the causal linkages created for the sector, as it is a key NAP-ETH intervention area, and called for further support particularly on the process of drafting the Health Sector Development Program (HSDP) and requested for urgent support on the process.

Project Steering Committee Level:  Some participants recommended switching the name of this committee to ‘Technical Committee’ and to convene the meeting on a six-month basis.

Pertinent staff members from EPA and GGGI Ethiopia  jointly reflected on the issues raised by the participants:

Agreed Points and Way Forward

As part of the way forward, the following action points were adopted during the conclusion of the Meeting :

  • Agreed to strengthen the documentation, communication, and knowledge product dissemination strategies, as well as to establish a database and knowledge sharing platform in tune with the national data-management objective;
  • Recommended that a continuous capacity building activity be undertaken in relation to the proposal and concept note development. It was further suggested that at least one relevant action research be conducted;
  • Agreed to work on clarifying the SC and technical committee member composition, and common understanding was reached to continue organizing the steering committee on a quarterly basis;
  • Stressed the need on the importance of adopting a woreda level planning and its actual implementation, for  the lower-level involvement is one of the strategic directions of the Government;
  • Reached consensus to continue working closely with the existing institutional structure of EPA until the reformation is finalized and fact is established about the proper mandates.

Partial view of the Participants