Sudan & South Sudan ICI: Promoting Adaptation to Climate Change Through Improved Services, Phase II

Description What is done in the programme or project and why, what results are pursued, who benefits from the activities and who are involved in the implementation.

The majority of Sudanese and South Sudanese rely their livelihoods on sectors that are dependent on climate and weather related changes (such as subsistence farming). Climate change and extreme weather have therefore significant impact on communities' survival. The second phase of the 'Promoting Adaptation to Climate Change through Improved Services' project, supports Sudanese and South Sudanese' poverty reduction and resilience-building by strengthening their abilities to adapt to climate change and extreme weather phenomena. The ongoing phase II of the project focuses on partnering institutions' capacity building, and particularly on strengthening their observation and analysis services related to the effects of climate change and the changing weather patterns. Strengthening the institutions' capabilities to forecast natural disasters caused by weather or climate related factors and improving sharing of related information to the wider public, could also help to prevent loss of lives and material damage caused by such phenomena. The project is a second phase of an earlier 'Promoting Adaptation to Climate Change through Improved Services' project (2011–2015), and builds on the first phase's achievements, also taking notice on the lessons learnt from the first phase. The two phases of the project have already strengthened considerably the capacity of the partnering institutions, and particularly that of the Sudan's Meteorological Authority (SMA). Among else, with the support of the project dozens of SMA staff have been trained in different topics; the stations for the operational forecast were re-arranged to pursue work tasks more efficiently; a comprehensive plan has been drafted to guide SMA in developing its applied research; a new strategy was drafted for the SMA; and the SMA's aviation services has reached the ISO 9001-2008 standard. The current phase of the project lasts for three years from 2016 until 2018. The Finnish Foreign Ministry's total financing for the project is 500 000€. This additional financing for the project is 180 000€, enabling the project to continue until 2018.