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Jordan and Guatemala showcase their experiences of designing integrated financing strategies

21 September, 2009

The Governments of Jordan and Guatemala showcased their national processes in designing and implementing integrated financing strategies (IFSs) in a side event held on the fringes of COP9 in Buenos Aires, on 21 September 2009. The event was organized jointly by the two governments to share their respective experiences of understanding and developing the IFS approach: steering the process towards the designing of an integrated investment framework (IIF) for sustainable land management (SLM), as called for by the Ten-Year Strategy of the UNCCD.
 
“Twelve per cent of Guatemala’s land is degraded”, said Mr Roberto Motta, the UNCCD National Focal Point, “and this has serious implications on food security”. In 2004, Guatemala in close cooperation with the GM, strengthened its institutional setting through the establishment of a Unit to Combat Desertification and Drought, created within the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
 
With the instrumental support of the GM, the Unit mobilized an integrated package of resources for the development of an IFS. This package comprised financial support from the Spanish and German cooperation agencies (circa USD 30M) and a contribution of USD 13 million from Mexico. The IFS design phase culminated in the establishment of a Technical Inter-Institutional Group (TIG) - convened together with government institutions, international cooperation agencies, civil society organizations and the private sector - with the specific aim of integrating the IFS process into similar initiatives in the Mesoamerican region.
 
Mr Hussein Shahine, UNCCD National Focal Point for Jordan then made a presentation of Jordan’s experience in developing the IFS, outlining the various phases, which included:

the endorsement of the NAP by Government;

  • the mainstreaming of SLM into the National Agenda;
  • the strengthening of the Government-Donor Coordination Group as well as the NCCD; and
  • the development of the country’s IIF.

Notably, it was mentioned that prior to the initiation of the IFS design process, around 200 existing projects were already addressing land degradation and desertification. The Government, together with the GM, assessed the whole project package streamlining it in a comprehensive matrix clustering all activities by thematic area. The external sources of funding were also assessed comprehensively through a donor matrix that led to the formulation of a five-year action plan - the core of the IFS - designed using a results-based management approach. The draft IIF was prepared in 2009 with an estimated total amount of USD 664 million spread across 47 national projects.

The experiences presented during this dynamic side event indicate the value of South-to-South knowledge exchange in sharing views on resource mobilization for SLM. Moreover, the Guatemala and Jordan country experiences are an important contribution towards understanding the practical applications of the IFS approach while at the same time illustrating its significant potential in achieving financial packages for SLM projects and programmes.
 
The GM is very much looking forward to supporting future knowledge sharing initiatives amongst countries from different continents
 
For more information:
 
Mr Roshan Cooke, Programme Coordinator, Asia and Pacific
Tel. +39 06 5459 2156
ro.cooke (at) global-mechanism.org

Mr Alejandro Kilpatrick, Programme Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Climate Change Finance Programme
Tel. +39 06 5459 2524
a.kilpatrick (at) global-mechanism.org