Progress in Integrated Financial Strategy formulation in Guatemala and Honduras

In conjunction with the governments of Guatemala and Honduras, the GM held a side event on Progress in Integrated Financial Strategy Formulation in Guatemala and Honduras, on 11 September, during COP.8.

 

Opening the event, the GM’s Managing Director, Christian Mersmann, highlighted the importance of the major efforts being made in Central America, through the Central American Regional Agri-environmental Strategy (ERA), the Central American Investment Promotion Platform,, the Permanent Forum of Directors of International Environmental Cooperation, as pillars for UNCCD implementation in the region.  It is of paramount importance that the Forum of Central American Environment Ministers agrees to include sustainable land management (SLM) issues in its decisions.  

 

The GM in collaboration with FAO and other partners is supporting national-level work within the sub-region. Significant progress has been made; this must now be publicized, and the lessons learned shared during the High-Level Segment of the COP.

 

Juan Dary, Guatemala’s Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, provided details on formulation of the Financial Strategy - including the National Action Programme to Combat Desertification and Drought (PROANDYS) - within the framework of the Central American Regional Agricultural Programme (PARCA), which has seven axes: sustainable use of natural resources; policy alignment; sustainable production; education and participation; research, science and technology; technical assistance and financial resources; and early warning systems. 

 

He explained that the President of Guatemala approved the PROANDYS and had instructed the ministers involved in rural development to incorporate its components into their own programmes of work.  A special Unit and Council to Combat Desertification and Drought had been established with the task of coordinating actions.  The Financial Strategy, he added, is being facilitated through the participation of a broad range of stakeholders. The GM supports Guatemala through the ERA, the Biological Corridor, the Investment Platform for Sustainable Land Management (PIMAST), ministerial forums and the Forum of Directors of International Environmental Cooperation.

 

The Ambassador of Guatemala to Spain underlined the importance of the ongoing collaboration between Spain and Guatemala, especially in terms of decentralized cooperation initiatives that are also being undertaken with the Danish Cooperation Agency.

 

Alberto Palma, Honduras’s Deputy Minister of Natural Resources expressed his confidence in the UNCCD’s ability to tackle issues that have a major impact on his country. A follow-up mechanism and small grant fund have been established with the support of the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) through the International NGO Network on Desertification (RIOD).  A National Committee to Combat Drought (CONDE) has been set up and is nested within the Council for Sustainable Development and the Cabinet for Social Development. A technical inter-agency group, municipal authorities and the private sector are also involved at the operational level.  

 

The Honduran National Action Plan (NAP) has five axes: sustainable production; planning and reforestation; education and awareness raising; institution and capacity building; and risk management.  The Financial Strategy encompasses domestic financial resource alignment, harmonization of the Annual Operative Programmes of 21 institutions and use of innovative mechanisms, such as the Millennium Accounts (under the aegis of the Secretary of Natural Resources: SERNAH).  The focus is on establishing and consolidating natural protected areas and reforestation.

 

In Honduras, Spain is supporting the regional ARAUCARIA Programme, a cross-border project with Nicaragua, and another project on energy production.

 

Argentina’s delegate highlighted the progress made in the Mesoamerican sub-region and the importance of interregional exchange, particularly in the joint promotion of a Spanish-American forum.

 

Sergio Zelaya, Coordinator of the Facilitation Unit for Latin America and the Caribbean of the UNCCD Secretariat, stressed that this work contains many valuable elements for South-to-South cooperation and is a good example of what can be achieved when the GM and the Secretariat work together. 

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