The Institutional Strengthening in Pacific island Countries to adapt to Climate Change (ISACC) project is assisting Tuvaluan practitioners who are engaged with climate change related projects.
Ms. Susan Tupulaga, National Coordinator of the ISACC project in Tuvalu, said that although Tuvalu does not receive direct funding from ISACC, it receives benefits in other ways which assist to implement projects on the ground.
“The ISACC project benefits Tuvalu as a whole by providing assistance in strengthening local institutions to have better systems in order to be able to access and manage climate finance,” said Ms. Tupulaga.
Ms. Tupulaga also believes that ISACC is of great help with some of the accreditation processes of Tuvalu.
“Tuvalu is still in the process of getting accreditation with its National Implementing Entity (NIE) through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and therefore the ISACC project plays an important role in providing assistance to tackle some of the requirements for the NIE accreditation process.”
A good example of this is to provide technical assistance in reviewing Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations and the development of Environmental Social Safeguards within the EIA regulation, said Ms. Tupulaga.
Ms Vuki Buadromo, Project Manager of the ISACC project said, “We have been working with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the Climate Change and Disaster Unit to address some of the issues and bring Tuvalu a step closer to achieving accreditation and gaining access to the Adaptation Fund.”
Ms. Buadromo also added that ISACC has assisted through the rolling out of the project management training that was offered by the University of the South Pacific (USP) Tuvalu campus through a cohort last year, an opportunity for participants of the course to gain increased skills in better managing climate change projects financed by climate & disaster risk funds.
Ms. Tupulaga said that of the 26 Tuvaluans enrolled to take the course, 20 of them were funded by the ISACC project and graduated from USP with Certificates in Project Management in September 2018. She is glad that this course has provided basic understanding for locals who will be dealing projects in fisheries, agriculture, climate, waste, energy, people with disabilities associations and other departments with climate change related projects.
The ISACC project in Tuvalu is a three-year small scale project with a budget of less than USD$240,000. It is expected to finish soon.
Ms. Tupulaga is attending the Regional Climate and Disaster Risk Finance meeting at Sigatoka and said she would love to take back with her more information on climate finance and lessons learnt from the other countries in going through their NIE accreditation processes.
ISACC project is funded by USAID, is implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC), Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP) in the FSM, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
It is a five-year project (2015 – 2020) with a budget of US$1 million.
PACNEWS June 28, Radio Tuvalu
