Country Director's remarks at the launch of Cambodia Community Based Adaptation Programme

Remarks by Elena Tischenko, Country Director, UNDP Cambodia

at

Launching Workshop of

Cambodia Community Based Adaptation Programme (CCBAP)

25 January 2011

Excellency Chheng Kimsun, Delegate of Royal Government of Cambodia, Chief of Forestry Administration and Chairman of the Small Grants Programme National Steering Committee

Ms. Eva Asplund, Country Director, Swedish International Development Agency

Excellencies, development partners, honourable guests, ladies and gentlemen,

It is my privilege to be here this afternoon to deliver my remarks at the launch of the Cambodia Community-Based Adaptation Programme.

As we all know, climate change is a priority that can no longer be ignored, nor denied. According to the Human Impact Report on Climate Change produced in 2009, globally two million people are already suffering because of climate change. More than one third of the world’s population, representing 2.8 billion people, live in areas of the world that are prone to more than one manifestation of climate change, be it floods, storms, droughts or sea level rise. It is predicted that by the year 2030, the lives of 660 million people will  be seriously affected either by natural disasters caused by climate change or through gradual environmental degradation.

In Cambodia, climate change impact puts  vulnerable groups at special risk. Poor people and other  vulnerable groups such as women headed households, children and indigenous people, are those affected most.

Extreme climatic events such as floods and droughts are already recognised as one of the main contributors to poverty in Cambodia. During the 20 year period from 1987-2007, floods  and droughts have affected the greatest number of people and caused the greatest amount of damage and fatalities. Succession and combinations of droughts and floods have resulted in a significant number of fatalities and considerable economic losses, amounting to 1,125 deaths and 465 million USD damage. Typhoon Ketsana that hit Cambodia in  2009 brought disastrous consequences, causing the damage at the estimated value of $132 million. The productive sector including agriculture, livestock, and fisheries were most seriously affected, followed by social and infrastructure sectors.

The Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment in Prey Veng Province in 2009 established that the agriculture sector, particularly rice farming, is most affected by climate hazards.  About 90% of the economic loss due to climate hazards – either droughts or flood – is related to crop harvest failure.  The study concluded that the preparedness of villagers to extreme climate events is low, as is their adaptive capacity to climate change. In addition, lack of financial resources has generally prevented local communities from using coping and adaptation mechanisms.

These increasingly worrisome facts and analyses point to the importance and urgency of making sure that  communities have greater capacity to adapt to climate change. There are a number of approaches that can help achieve this.

First, it is important to diversify and intensify farming practices and community based water management mechanisms. This will enable local communities to better cope with  disastrous events such as drought and flooding.

Second, it is vital to help diversify and increase rural incomes.

Third, it is critical to  sustainably manage and restore ecosystems because they play a key role in building adaptive capacity, which leads to climate change resilience.

Fourth, we need to prepare local communities to mitigate and reduce climate- and disaster-related risks.  

These approaches need to become part of the  programmes and projects within the cohesive national effort of  transforming Cambodia into a climate resilient society. This year, UNDP begins implementation of the new  five-year Country Programme with the Royal Government of Cambodia where climate change is one of the key priorities for support.

Since 2006, UNDP has been closely collaborating with the Government and development partners to support community-based projects aiming to improve livelihoods of thousands of local communities. In my recent visits to two conservation sites I had an opportunity to interact with local communities as partners to some of such  projects. Results of these projects clearly show the importance of  integrated approach to sustainable management of forest and other natural resources, protection of environment, promoting diversified sources of income including  eco-tourism and non-timber commercial products and securing land use rights for local communities

These and other approaches show the proven ways to enhance the coping and adaptive capacities of communities to respond to climate change and to contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction in Cambodia.

Community-based adaptation and climate resilience mechanisms need to be integrated into a broader national plan of action and set of priorities. We are pleased to see the steps that the Royal Government of Cambodia is taking in this direction.The National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) which was endorsed in 2006 recognized that programmes for improving community capacity and enhancing community-based initiatives to cope with climate hazards and adapt to climate variability receives little attention and limited geographical coverage. Therefore, out of 20 priority projects, NAPA identified 9 projects to promote community based adaptation in the areas of disaster preparedness and response, water supply, aquaculture, malaria education, agriculture soil conservation, integrated farming, irrigation and mangrove restoration.

UNDP is closely collaborating with the Royal Government of Cambodia, development partners, civil society and communities themselves, and will further intensify this collaboration, to make sure that local-level adaptation programmes are connected to and influence national policy targets and actionable priorities.

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are here today to launch a new initiative on community-based adaptation. It aims to build the resilience of about 100 communities in 13 provinces in Cambodia.

The programme will be implemented through the Small Grants  mechanism that has been applied in Cambodia  since 2005 and supported 99 projects working with local non-governmental and community-based organizations in their efforts to  protect local environment in a way that benefits the livelihoods of the poor. Throughout this period many lessons learned and good practices have been put in place providing a solid basis for further replication. Today we will hear from our NGO partners about their impressive work in building community resilience, strengthening social safety nets and improving food security for local communities.

I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to all the members of the National Steering Committee of the Small Grants Programme in Cambodia for their continued commitment and support.

I would like to extend deep gratitude and appreciation to Swedish International Development Agency and especially Ms. Eva Asplund, SIDA Country Director, for the support to the UNDP Small Grant Programme for this new initiative that we launch today. With the support from SIDA, thirty more small grant projects will be put in place to promote community based adaptation during 2011-2012.

I would like also to thank all the NGO and CBO partners who have been actively involved in the Small Grants Programme and look forward to seeing this partnership grow even stronger in the future through the implementation of the Cambodia Community Based Adaptation Programme.  

Thank you!