Continuing a global level evaluation on the UN Capital Development Fund’s Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL), a team of evaluators have made a commitment to the programme’s efforts in Cambodia.

The programme, which works in Asia, Africa and the Pacific, has recently assisted independent evaluators on a field mission to Cambodia for a mid-term evaluation of the programme at the global level.

LoCAL’s goal in Cambodia is to reduce vulnerability to climate change impacts of people and critical systems (natural and societal) in the most vulnerable rural areas of Cambodia.

A team of two evaluators, Jon Garcia and Bishwa Paudyal from Baastel, a Canada-based consulting firm, were in Cambodia from the 31^st of July to the 4^th of August, 2017 as a part of their field mission for the evaluation. The field mission consisted of bilateral meetings with officials of the National Committee for Sub-national Democratic Development Secretariat (NCDDS), the Ministry of Environment, the National Treasury, the UNDP Policy Unit, UNDSS, World Bank, IFAD, Sida, EU and the UNCDF Country Office. This also included visits to LoCAL project sites in Baray and Roka Krao Sangkat of Daunkeo Municipality and Doung Kpos Commune of Borei Chulsar District.

In addition, the visiting evaluators had courtesy meetings with Country Director of UNDP Cambodia. Moreover, they met with local authorities in Daunkeo municipality and Boreichulsar district to better understand LoCAL’s impact on these ‘last mile’ areas.

A site visit was conducted to some of the projects location – they included a flood-proof resilient road in Baray Sangkatand Adaptive-community canal in Roka Krao Sangkat and in the Doung Kpos Commune. The mission included different locations where LoCAL works in order to intertwine its general and local presence in the country and its effort as a global programme.

During a meeting Deputy District Governor, Mr. Ros Buntheun, has explain how the LoCAL Programme has contribute to increase resilience in their area. He explained that its initiatives have promoted awareness in the local community, enhances community adaptation to climate hazards, meeting the local community’s need in response to climate change in their areas. As a local authority, he proposed that LoCAL continue its support to the community and add more PBCRGs to aid the community’s response to climate change. The Governor concluded his suggestions by sincerely thanking LoCAL and NCDDSs for their financial and technical support.

The mid-term evaluation includes field missions to Niger, Bhutan and Cambodia. The LoCAL programme began support to community-level climate change adaptation investments through performance-based grant system to local governments in Cambodia in 2012. Its strategy is to assist local governments in implementing block grants allocated for improving local-level infrastructure and in providing public services, while offering training and capacity development for local personnel and officials. LoCAL in Cambodia is embedded in the NCDDS.

Fakri Karim, Programme Manager of LoCAL, explains: “LoCAL in Cambodia is reaching a maturity stage, where the government of Cambodia with the support from SIDA is entering phase III of the LoCAL mechanism. With a well-proved mechanism to deliver the CCA results at local level, Cambodia has nominated NCDDS as a candidate for the GCF National Implementing Entity (NIE) and submitted a concept note for the GCF Direct Access to scale up the programme. This has become a model for other LoCAL countries in other regions.”

It is currently active in two target provinces (Battambang and Takeo), and seven districts/ one municipality; namely Daunkeo, Bati, Boreichulsar, Rokhakiri, Sampoveloun, Phnom Preuk, Ratanak Mundol and Koh Kralor.

LoCAL serves as a mechanism to integrate climate change adaption into local governments’ planning and budgeting systems, increase awareness of and response to climate change at the local level, and increase the amount of finance available to local governments for climate change adaption.

For more information, please contact:

Nasser AlQatami
Communications Analyst, UNCDF
nasser.alqatami@uncdf.org