SACFP 2nd Regional Learning Forum Report Released
The Southern Africa Climate Finance Partnership (SACFP) has released the full report of the 2nd Regional Learning Forum on the SSN website. The report covers the themes addressed during the forum, the shifts in understanding that occurred, and the future of the SACFP and further learning forums.
SouthSouthNorth convened the 2nd Regional Learning Forum from 2-3 April 2019 in Maun, Botswana. It was co-hosted by Botswana’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, in their capacity as Nationally Designated Authority (NDA) to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and supported by UK Aid and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation.
This Regional Learning Forum brought together 44 delegates, including Nationally Designated Authorities (NDAs) / Focal Points (FPs) to the GCF; both current and nominated Accredited Entities (AEs) to the GCF; as well as the conveners and their development partners. As with the 1st SACFP Regional Learning Forum, sessions were generally discussion-oriented, with speakers asked to share their stories and experiences. The learning forum was held under the Chatham House Rule, to allow for open sharing of participant experiences.
The themes addressed at the Learning Forum included:
- Information updates from the GCF, including the updated GCF Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme, the updated GCF Results Management Framework, and the updated GCF Financial Management Capacity Assessment;
- A workshop and discussion on programming gender-responsive climate finance, and enhancing institutional capacity and policy to this end;
- Discussions on country programming for the GCF, including considerations for generating a country strategy for climate finance, and selecting and coordinating Direct Access AEs;
- Discussions on accreditation, from the perspective of entities seeking accreditation, entities with experience in achieving accreditation, and the role of NDAs in facilitating accreditation;
- Presentations and discussions on climate finance opportunities available the private sector, including success stories, and details on the GCF’s Private Sector Facility; and
- Delegate experiences with accessing the GCF’s Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme.
During Regional Learning Forum 2, delegates noted positive shifts in understanding, clarified key messages, and identified opportunities for climate finance in the region and within their own contexts. Mentimeter interactive surveys were used to gather delegate input, at the start and the end of the Regional Learning Forum. Delegates self-evaluated their understanding of the three SACFP Workstreams, at the start and the end of the Forum, showing a clear improvement in understanding of the content.
Figure 1: Delegate knowledge of SACFP Workstreams at the start of RLF2
Figure 2: Delegate understanding of SACFP workstreams at the end of RLF2
At the start of the Regional Learning Forum, delegates were asked what they wanted to learn most about; this was revisited at the end of the Learning Forum, when delegates were asked to rank how well their expectations were met, showing positive results, particularly in the area of sharing delegate experiences.
Figure 3: Degree to which delegate expectations of RLF2 were met
Several delegates have expressed a demand for a third SACFP Regional Learning Forum. While SACFP Phase 2 is drawing to a close in March 2020, SSN is reviewing the sustainability of interventions piloted to date, and working with partners to develop plans for a possible continuation. There will be a number of in-country engagements and technical assistance interventions delivered before the conclusion of the current phase – some of which are already underway.
The full report is available here
Figure 4: Graphic Harvest representation of RLF2’s day 1 sessions
Figure 5: Graphic Harvest representation of RLF2’s day 2 morning sessions
Figure 6: Graphic Harvest representation of RLF2’s day 2 afternoon sessions