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On October 20th, at the Indigenous and Local Peoples Day at the Ecosystems Pavilion during the Convention of Biological Diversity COP10 taking place in Nagoya, Japan. The event “Capacity Building Experiences at the Community Level” was moderated by Eileen De Ravin, Manager of the Equator Initiative, UNDP.
The event started with the presentation of Prabhjot Sodhi, National Coordinator of the GEF Small Grants Programme in India, who started by mentioning the five Capacity Development objectives of the GEF for the fifth operational phase, followed by an explanation of how the Small Grants Programme works on the ground and the types of capacity development activities that SGP conducts such us the technical support offered to the communities on how to prepare, present and monitor their projects; how to raise the co-financing; how to market their products; and connect with the local authorities to influence policy.
Jose Manuel Perez, National Coordinator of the GEF Small Grants Programme in Panama, explained that SGP is unique in its capacity development strategy as it is a program designed to work with the most vulnerable and remote communities which usually have never implemented a project before or received prior grants, and therefore, the role of the SGP is to trust that the communities can deliver and provide them with all the tools needed for success. Perez continued to explain that this approach is so successful that communities then help others start similar projects and sustain their projects.
The third speaker was Lucy Mulenkei from the Indigenous Information Network, who talked about the important role of women in capacity development and traditional knowledge. Ms. Mulenkei explained the multiplier effect of building the capacity of women in communities as women teach their families and work together in cooperatives. She also addressed the need to preserve the traditional knowledge of communities and passing them on to the next generations.
The next speaker, Florina Lopez of the Women’s Network spoke about the intensive capacity building activities the network has been conducting with indigenous women in Latin America. And explained the importance of involving men in the meetings, so men understand the issues that women discuss and get them to collaborate with them.
To conclude, Johnson Cerda, an indigenous from Ecuador and advisor to Conservation International talked about a “training of trainers” manual that Conservation International produced to help indigenous and local communities deal with climate change and how to get involved in REDD.
Contact: Ana Maria Currea, Knowledge Management Facilitator, GEF Small Grants Programme, Ana.maria.currea@undp.org
