On Tuesday, 26 July 2022, a preparatory coordination meeting on the Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE) for South Asia project took place in Hotel Royal Singi, Kathmandu, Nepal. The meeting, jointly organized by the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) and Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), was convened in a hybrid format with a total of 55 participants onsite and virtually from key partner agencies, such as the Ministry of Finance (MoF); Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development (MoALD); Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM); Department of Roads (DoR); Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation (MoEWRI); National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA); Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS); and the Department of Local Infrastructure (DoLI).
CARE for South Asia aims to help promote resilience to climate change by improving the availability of regional data and knowledge in the region, and developing guidelines, tools and capacities, and promoting climate-resilient decisions, policies and investments across key sectors in the beneficiary countries: Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. It is a World Bank-funded initiative co-implemented by RIMES and ADPC and will run from 2020-2025.
In addition to an overview of current project status and early-stage lessons learned so far, discussions at the event particularly focused on the next steps in CARE implementation, namely systems prototype development and drafting of policy recommendations.
The meeting was considered “instrumental to ensuring mutual cooperation, coordination, and support for the successful planning and implementation of project activities” according to Mr. Yuba Raj Bhusal (National Adviser, CARE Project, ADPC Nepal) in his welcome remarks. This was seconded by Mr. Yug Raj Pandey (Undersecretary, International Economic Cooperation Division, Ministry of Finance, Government of Nepal), who spoke on behalf of Mr. Ishwori Prasad Aryal, and further highlighted the importance of constant discussions among the concerned stakeholders towards achieving the specific objectives of CARE.
Following the technical presentations, participants were given an opportunity to talk about their individual insights and clarifications, and suggest ways forward for CARE. A common theme raised among them was the criticality of forming technical working groups (TWGs) within each ministry and department, as well as one on the inter-ministerial level; the formation of a coordination committee; and the need to constantly evaluate financial progress via-a-vis physical progress to ensure project efficiency. The meeting concluded with a networking session.