NAP-GSP assistance to Lesotho
Submitted by esther.lake@undp.org on 15 November 2013
15 November 2013: The NAP-GSP team is progressing with assistance to the Government of Lesotho, following a meeting at COP19 with the UNFCCC Lesotho representative Ms. Keena Mosheshe.
The main requirement for NAP support expressed by the Government of Lesotho is to develop the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into existing national development planning process. NAP-GSP can support coordination to develop plans which are mainstreamed into line ministries and sectoral plans, through in-country capacity building and training.
Some capacity-building and training has already come from Africa Adaptation Programme (AAP) in Lesotho. NAP-GSP will build on this support through additional training provision and wider multi-sector capacity building in-country.
The Central Planning Ministry (CPM) has developed medium term and long term planning processes to 2017. The Government of Lesotho expressed the need to have a mainstreamed planning process which is consistent and formal - a clear structure for all sectors - led from the central planning ministry and mainstreamed into all the sectors of Government, embedded into existing planning processes.
The Government of Lesotho CPM has developed a 5 year plan - 2012/3 to 2016/7 – ‘National Strategic Development Plan’ - which incorporates climate change mainstreaming into the plan into all sectors. Adaptation projects proposals are also included. NAP-GSP can provide support to develop these proposals into projects.
Next step for NAP-GSP is a TOR for Lesotho - channelled and anchored through the UNDP country office, in close consultation with the Government of Lesotho. NAP-GSP will scope the outcomes AAP and other adaptation projects in Lesotho and build on this support. The benefit of NAP-GSP is that support goes directly to the Minsistries of Planning, to coordinate the mainstreaming component. In other adaptation programmes, climate finance is mainly channelled and managed through the Ministries of Environment.
UNDP is developing other projects in Lesotho which are linked to mainstreaming of climate change - so NAP-GSP will link with, and add value, to these.
The Government of Lesotho expressed the need to also consider sub-national support, in terms of mainstreaming climate change adaptation into provincial plans and planning divisions - since the Government of Lesotho is in a process of decentralization.