Women, children and youths spread across One Hundred and Seventy communities in the country to benefit from the SOLKAS project
HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS (16TH JULY 2023) A project that will see the strengthening of the resilience of targeted communities and children and rural youth in the Solomon Islands against the onslaught of climate change impacts has been signed today. The project is called Solomon Islands Knowledge-Action-Sustainability for Resilient Villages (SOLKAS) Project.
The signing today is the result of six years of work by officers from the Ministry of Environment Climate Change Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM), Save the Children Australia (SCA) and Save the Children Solomon Islands (SCSI) and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Secretariat.
When rolled out the project will help with the adaptation capacities of the government and schools to lay the foundation for a locally led adaptation effort by investing resources such as infrastructures in communities and schools.
The project will build upon a community based adaptation approach to them of their understanding of climate crisis by delivering two highly innovative initiatives namely; a digital toolset for climate risk assessment and adaptation planning and a permanent Youth Climate Resilience Livelihoods incubator to accelerate green projects locally.
Speaking at the signing today Deputy Secretary Technical for the MECDM Mr Chanel Iroi said the project is an important one for the government because it is well aligned with the country’s climate change priorities that support rural communities and villages in their socio economic institutions to strengthen their capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change. Mr. Iroi acknowledged the commitment of Save Children Australia in its role as the Accredited Entity for leading the technical preparation of the project and SCSI counterparts for maintaining strong collaboration with MECDM in the development of the project.
He said the project is worth $US31.83 million with $US29.97million grant from the GCF, $US3.22million grant from the Government of Australia, $US1.81million grant from the Government of New Zealand and $US1.83 million of in-kind contribution from the Solomon Islands Government. The project will have direct impact to around 185,000 people which is about 26 percent of the country’s total population. The beneficiaries include women, children and youths spread across 170 communities in the targeted provinces of Temotu, Makira, Central, Isabel, Guadalcanal and Malaita.
He assured the GCF that Solomon Islands Government stands ready to work closely with Save the Children Australia in the facilitation and supporting of the implementation of the project in the country.
The GCF is a financial mechanism set up under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to serve the Paris Agreement by supporting adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries driven by national priorities. The National Designated Authority (NDA), which is the official link between the Government and GCF is hosted at MECDM, and the work of the NDA is under the oversight of the National Climate Finance Steering Committee set up by Cabinet last year.
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