Earth Today | Community development pros get CDEMA training

JAMAICA LAST week hosted the first face-to-face workshop for community development professionals from 17 Caribbean islands, under the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) regional proposal writing workshop series.

The regional series, which began earlier in July via an online session, provides exposure to pre-proposal planning, structuring proposals, tailoring propositions to the needs of funders, and incorporating critical cross-cutting priorities, such as gender equity and climate change into submissions.

The workshop series marks a new collaboration with funders such as the 11th European Development Fund – Building the Resilience of the CARIFORUM States to Disaster Risks and Climate Change Impacts (BRICS) Programme, the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and an ongoing partnership with the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEFSGP) implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and the CCRIF SPC (formerly the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.

The CDB is providing the training through its BNTF, which is the bank’s main vehicle for direct poverty reduction interventions across the Caribbean.

Richardo Aiken, community development specialist at the CDB, explained that a recent three-island pilot assessment implemented by the CDB’s BNTF in Jamaica, Guyana, and Saint Lucia, revealed that many community groups saw a need to improve their proposal writing skills to access resources for community development initiatives.

“These proposal writing workshops have emerged from a need for greater collaboration among regional partners, to improve community awareness, and capacity to access grant resources,” he added.

According to Clive Murray, community resilience specialist and project coordinator (Norway) at the CDEMA: “The CDEMA Coordinating Unit is quite keen on advancing the Caribbean resilience agenda and so we welcome the opportunities to partner and collaborate on activities to build resilience to the threats of climate change and the impacts from other natural and man-made hazards.

“It is necessary that we support local communities by developing their capacities and provide linkages that help to manage their risks and increase resilience. This workshop for non-governmental and civil society organisations is one such activity that could enhance the capacities of local community members by improving their ability to access resources and to successfully implement and manage sustainable projects,” he added.

The Jamaica workshop is being followed by a final session from August 1-18 in Guyana. It is anticipated that participants will produce fundable project proposal concepts during the one-week workshop, some of which will be immediately channelled to the respective funders.