From 15-17 March 2017, representatives from the 9 UN CC:Learn partner countries conveyed in Addis Ababa to share experiences and knowledge on integrating climate change in the education system and mobilizing resources for climate change education. The meeting was organized by the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, in collaboration with the Government of Ethiopia, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa ( UNECA ) and the Addis Ababa University .
The participants emanated from both ministries of Environment and Education / the education system, and the experience sharing was supported by various activities, as well as subject matter experts who shared their own experiences. On the first day, participants discussed the general education system and the various entry points for climate change, such a curriculum reform, training of teachers and development of supplementary materials. The second day focused on resource mobilization for climate change education activities, including exercises on integrating climate change education into greater funding proposals (such as to the Green Climate Fund, GCF), as well as ways to tap into private climate finance. The third day was dedicated to gathering input from the countries for the next phase of UN CC:Learn.
“The workshop has been an eye opener”, said Ms. Shamiso Najira, Deputy Director and GEF Operational Focal Point at the Environmental Affairs Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining of Malawi. “We will now strive to integrate activities from our national climate change learning strategy in the greater GCF proposals”. Médard Comlan, form the Environment and Climate Directorate of Benin, added “it is time for us to try to innovate for resource mobilization for climate change education. It is time to be ambitious – Africa can be daring”, he added. “Now, we need to keep the momentum and devote twice as much energy to climate change learning in our countries”, concluded Bob Natifu, Principal Climate Change Officer at the Ministry of Water and Environment of Uganda.
The workshop was organized at the request of the UN CC:Learn partner countries in order to capitalize on lessons learned from developing and implementing national climate change learning strategies.
More photos from this event are available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/146345277@N06/albums/72157679352561862
