The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project completed its series of Socioeconomic (SEA-PACC) Guide after holding its third training in Koror, Republic of Palau on the 13th to the 17th December 2010.
This is the last of three sub-regional trainings planned after the completion of the SEA-PACC Guide presented at the first Multi-Partite Review Meeting in May 2010. The three workshops were divided according to the three groups of countries addressing the same PACC sectors.
The third SEA-PACC Guide sub-regional training, held in collaboration with the Palau Office of Environment Response and Coordination (OERC), focused primarily on the food security sector, countries include Fiji, Palau, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
The training helped put into perspective and a bigger picture the SEA PACC in the project and climate adaptation.
"This assured the participants where, how and when they should plan, apply and carry out the SEA PACC. It resulted in a firmer understanding of the climate change adaptation process and its application in any sector," said PACC Project Officer Peni Leavai.
"Ms Supin Wongbursarakum from Conservation Methods and Learning, the Nature Conservancy, Worldwide Office, delivered an excellent training that allowed active participation from all participants. The feedback from the participants of what they learned at the training showed that they are now more confident in what is expected of a socio economic assessment."
He said that the issues raised by the participants addressing country presentations, SEA requirements and skills, allowed for a very interactive and informative workshop; the survey development and actual survey in the pilot site proved to be a successful experience for everyone.
"It showed skills that in carrying out surveys and assessing its results have improved. Participants are more aware now of expectations and preparations when going out into the community, i.e. the types of questions, number of questions, strategic questions and methods to apply in different settings in the community."
The sub-regional training also provided the opportunity for the Regional Project Management Unit to be updated of the countries' multiyear work plans, annual work plans that includes their financial budgeting and procurement planning.
The opportunity helped the countries' technical and steering team increase their understanding of work planning from the PACC, UNDP and GEF perspective, and what is expected of them and their roles in the remaining years of the project, and beyond in terms of the outcomes they have come up with for climate change adaptation in their particular sector.
"It is always crucial to address with the country their project's financial situation in any given opportunity where we meet, in workshops, trainings, meetings, conferences. This is a monitoring aspect of the project and is a proactive corrective measure given the project undergoes overall evaluation such as auditing, etc," said Leavai.
He added that it has always proven effective to involve the finance personnel from the regional office, along with the Finance controllers of project funds in-country whether it be Treasury, Finance Section representative of the IA to address any risks and issues raised by the project team (e.g. core team, TIG, technical team) and National Project Management Unit.
"Where core teams are very active, it is always best to take the opportunity to provide a refresher presentation of the PACC project to the team, bring out their issues and discuss, make them understand their roles, and what is expected of them by the project (and its donors); and also what services we provide to support the project and themselves.
"Of the three sub-regional trainings for SEA PACC carried out, perhaps the most successful training is this one carried out in Palau. All the corrective actions and lessons learned from the first two training workshops seem to have been well applied here in Palau. It is recommended that the best practices coming out of these trainings – from procurement to reporting – be applied to future trainings, not only of the PACC Project but other regional projects."