UNDP Deputy Resident Representative remarks at the opening ceremony of the GEF-IWCAM training workshop on proposal writing.

 

On Monday 19 April, 2010, UNDP’s Deputy Resident Representative Edo Stork presented remarks at the Global Environmental Fund-Integrated Watershed and Coastal Areas Management (GEF-IWCAM) training workshop on proposal writing held in Trinidad. He shared the head table at this event with the Mrs. Veronica Belgrave, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning, Housing and the Environment, Government of Trinidad and Tobago; Mr. Vincent Sweeney, Regional Project Coordinator, GEF-IWCAM Project Coordinating Unit; Patricia Aquing, Executive Director, Caribbean Environmental Health Institute and Christopher Corbin, AMEP Programme Officer, UNEP-Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit.

 The five year GEF-IWCAM project addresses issues related to small island developing states in the Caribbean. Implementing agencies are the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Executing agencies are the Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention (UNEP-CAR/RCU) and the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI). The project coordinating unit is located in CEHI and was established in 2006 (http://www.cep.unep.org/iwcam).

 The overall objective of GEF-IWCAM is to strengthen the commitment and capacity of the participating countries to implement an integrated approach to the management of watersheds and coastal areas. There are thirteen participating Caribbean countries and there were two representatives per country at the workshop. Participants represented a range of environmental agencies and NGOs.

 Mr. Stork in his remarks noted that as one of the two GEF-IWCAM implementing agencies UNDP recognized the critical importance of the work of the GEF-IWCAM project. The training workshop was key to meeting the needs of a wide cross section of the stakeholders of the GEF-IWCAM and other similar donor funded projects since it would help to ensure that projects with excellent potential are given the opportunity and the resources to be implemented successfully.

 Mr. Stork spoke to the importance of the environment to development and UNDP’s increased role in the area of energy, environment and disaster preparedness. He also highlighted the importance of projects such as the GEF-IWCAM in assisting SIDS to meet their commitments under the Cartegena Convention and its protocols, particularly Land Based Sources of Pollution. In addition, he recognized that the workshop represented a vital component of meeting the challenge of translating intentions into development impact by allowing participants to engage more fully with GEF-IWCAM as well as organizations such as UNDP.

 In closing Mr. Stork reinforced the message of the remarks. He reiterated that the workshop addressed an essential component of the project and programme cycle and strongly encouraged participants to give the workshop their full and undivided attention so that they might develop their skills and provide support to colleagues in this critical area. He indicated that UNDP was privileged to support these efforts and looked forward to strengthening UNDP’s  partnerships with participants.