Twenty-eight participants from 10 Pacific countries and Timor-Leste have completed the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) executive training on “Understanding Access to Climate Finance Part 3 and 4: Project planning and management.”
Held from July to August 2022, the training built capacity in project planning, execution, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Part 1 and 2 of the training held in late 2020 focused on the essentials of climate finance, and gender and social inclusion.
Tuvalu Survival Fund Coordinator from Tuvalu’s Climate Change Department, Fafetai Namoto, said the training was extremely useful.
“I would recommend continuing this kind of group exercise because we learned so many things from our groups through sharing our experiences from our work, and the challenges we are facing. It was interesting to discuss issues from different perspectives, and we can also discuss further the way forward together,” she said.
The participants also shared their experience in M&E planning and implementation in a discussion board on the PCCC e-Learning Platform and learned about other countries’ experiences.
Project Officer from PNG Climate Change and Development Authority (CCDA), Ruben Robin Kipoi said: “Overall, training was very exciting and life-changing. It enlightened and enhanced my knowledge capacity in this field of project management and also added value to my CV.
He added: “The very important thing that I’ve learnt in this training was understanding the importance of the Logical Framework, Project Action Schedules, Budget Plan, project indicators and alignment of the different elements required for M&E development. Furthermore, the knowledge and skills obtained from the training enabled me to design and develop bankable small-scale project proposals for the office (CCDA) to apply for other donor funding. For example, I’m currently developing a proposal to apply for funds under the Public Investment Program (PIP) Government of PNG’s initiative to implement Nationally Determined Contribution (PNG NDC) targets.”
The training was virtually delivered by the PCCC under the Project for Capacity Building on Climate Resilience in the Pacific (CBCRP-PCCC) in partnership with the Government of Samoa and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The training was also supported by partners and stakeholders, including the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change and Resilience Building (PACRES) project and Climate Finance Access Network (CFAN).
PCCC Manager, ‘Ofa Ma’asi-Kaisamy, said she is delighted with the positive feedback from the participants.
“While the number of projects through climate finance is increasing, more responsibilities, roles, and functions for project development and execution are required in PICs,” she said.
“Based on the basic knowledge gained through the training in 2020, the two parts of this training this year provided further practical knowledge and skills for practitioners. Considering other capacity-building opportunities in the Pacific, our PCCC training focuses more on group exercises and mutual learning through discussions among participants.
For further information on the training courses delivered through this project, please contact cbcrp.pccc@gmail.com
SOURCE: SPREP/PACENWS
