Kolonia, Pohnpei – An inaugural Climate Adaptation Project Preparation Training workshop in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) has given the unique opportunity to Micronesians in leadership roles to upgrade their skills. The five-day training is held in partnership with the FSM Government through their National Designated Authority Office, USAID’s Climate Ready Project, The Nature Conservancy and The Micronesia Conservation Trust from 14-18 May, 2018.
The training course is being conducted through the technical assistance provided by Dr. Keith Bettinger, Adjunct Fellow, Research Program from the East- West Center. 28 participants including 14 women are attending this training course. Participants include mid-level managers of the FSM Government including the Department of Environment Climate change and Emergency Management, Department of Transportation, Communication and Infrastructure, Department of Health and Social Affairs, Department of Resources and Development, FSM NDA Office; State Government representatives and Non-Governmental and Regional and International Organizations such as Micronesia Conservation Trust, The Nature Conservancy, Kosrae Conservation and Safety Organization, Tamil Resources Conservation Trust, and private sector representative such as the Bank of Guam.
The course is a part of USAID’s support to help Pacific Island countries become more environmentally and disaster resilient. The training program comes with strong support from The Micronesia Conservation Trust, The Government of the Federated States of Micronesia, The Nature Conservancy and technical assistance through Dr. Bettinger, to support local leaders design projects to access international climate finance.
Dr. Bettinger, said, through this training program, “FSM and Palau have already made great progress in terms of recognizing short and long term threats associated with climate change and taking action to confront those threats. “What we’re doing here is working with the governments and NGOs to empower them to access external financing from sources like the Green Climate Fund to expand their efforts. The people here know what they need to do to adapt to climate change; our role is to help them meet the requirements of international financiers”, he stressed.
This training will boost the ability of the FSM to access climate finance and implement projects to strengthen the country’s resilience to the impacts of natural disasters. Through its five-year Climate Ready project, USAID builds the capacity of governments and institutions to develop and implement effective environmental and disaster mitigation policies and strategies. Ready works in 12 Pacific Island countries: Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.