SOUTH ASIA REGIONAL CONSULTATION ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION

JUNE 21, 2013 BY SAGARMEDIA

South Asia Regional Consultation on Climate Change Adaptation (SACCA)
New Delhi, 24-27 June 2013

WHAT: Launch of the South Asia Regional Consultation on Climate Change Adaptation (SACCA) entitled “Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) – Managing Risk for Resilience”, organized by the, UNICEF and the United Nations Disaster Management Team in India, in partnership with SAARC Disaster Management Center, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) of India.

The Consultation highlights the urgency for targeted action on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) seeking to raise awareness and reach a common consensus on key priorities for action amongst stakeholders. 

Media are invited to the inaugural session, which will be followed by a press interaction. 

Who: 
- Shashidhar Reddy, Vice Chairman,National Disaster Management Authority

- Mr David Mcloughlin, Deputy Representative, UNICEF India.

- Ms. Lise Grande, United Nations Resident Coordinator in India and Chair of India’s United Nations Disaster Management Team (UNDMT)

The SACCA consultation brings together over 140 experts from eight South Asian Countries (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives) as well as representatives of national governments, civil society organizations, academia and the UN for a four day event. 

Latest policy developments and key international guidelines in the field of CCA will be discussed, experience and good practices form the region will be shared and group work and brainstorming will generate consensus on key national and regional priorities for action in the field of Climate Change Adaptation in South Asia. Adolescents will also participate in brainstorming and deliberation for identification of key priorities for action. 

Where: Hotel Oberoi, New Delhi. 

When: 9.30 a.m, 24th June. 

Note to Editors:

Climate change and disaster risk reduction are closely linked. More extreme weather events in future are likely to increase the number and scale of disasters, while at the same time, existing methods and tools of disaster risk reduction provide powerful capacities for adaptation to climate change. Adaptation efforts in South Asia have so far been fragmented, lacking a strong link between national climate change strategies, and existing disaster risk reduction, agricultural, and other relevant policiesThe need to integrate CCA and DRR into national development strategies has emerged as a key conclusion from a number of recent international policy forums, particularly in the “Stockholm Plan of Action for Integrating Disaster Risk and Climate Change Impacts in Poverty Reduction” and the recent Oslo Policy Forum on “Changing the Way We Develop: Dealing with Disasters and Climate Change”.

The two day consultation will be followed by the Regional Workshop on Climate Resilient Small Holder Agricultural Farming Systems in South Asia on 26-27 June. The workshop is being organized by the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT/ESCAP) and is part of SATNET Asia, a ‘Network for Knowledge Transfer on Sustainable Agricultural Technologies and Improved Market Linkages in South and Southeast Asia’, funded by the European Union. The workshop will address ways to increase agricultural productivity in the context of climate change adaptation, and strengthen capacities of participants in the area of climate resilient farming practices.

A UNESCO workshop “Regional priorities for Knowledge Management and Strategy for action – South Asia” is also slated to be held on 26th of June.You are cordially invited to the inaugural session and we look forward to your participation in the following sessions. A draft agenda is enclosed.

For interviews of key spokespersons (profiles enclosed) and for further information, kindly contact:

UNICEF:

Ms. Maria Fernandez, Communication Specialist, Mobile: 9958-176-291, email: mfernadez@unicef.org
Sonia Sarkar, Communication Officer (Media), Mobile : 9810-170-289, email: ssarkar@unicef.org 

(See attached file: AGENDA SA RC CCA 24-27 June 2013 (Draft 8_Pre-final).docx)(See attached file: Resource person profiles.docx)
Kind regards,

Sonia Sarkar
Communication Officer (Media), Advocacy & Communication Division,
Tel: +91 11 2460-6237, Mobile : +91-981-017-0289 , Email ssarkar@unicef.org

United Nations Children’s Fund
India Country Office, 73 Lodi Estate, New Delhi
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