Presidency

H. E. Joseph N. Boakai, Sr.

President of Liberia

H. E. Zegben J. K. Koung

Vice President of Liberia

EPA, UNDP Host Technical Training on Rio Conventions

Participants at the training

 

With funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF), the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia (EPA) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on Tuesday began four-day Cross-Cutting Capacity Development (CCCD) training in Ganta, Nimba County to structure technical working groups for each of the four Rio Conventions on legislative responses and amendments. 

The CCCD is a Rio Mainstreaming project implemented by the EPA in collaboration with the UNDP with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The goal of the CCCD project is for Liberia to make better decisions to meet and sustain global environmental obligations.

This requires the country to have the capacity to coordinate efforts, as well as best practices for integrating global environmental priorities into planning, decision-making, and reporting processes.

The three Rio Conventions on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Desertification derive directly from the 1992 Earth Summit.

The four-day training in Ganta is being held under the theme: “Identifying best practices to mainstream Rio”.

Aaron Wesseh, CCCD Project Manager said the training also seeks to identify and select environmental development best practices that are to be piloted through the use of the Environmental Knowledge Management System (EKMS) for a high value sectoral development plan.

He told the opening session that the training also aim to strengthen the knowledge, technologies, practices, and efforts of government entities, NGOs and local communities related to addressing and responding to climate change, biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management to facilitate the exchange of experience and the sharing of best practices and lessons related to mitigation.

Mr. Wesseh explained that technical working groups for each of the three Rio Conventions would be structured, trained on legislative response and amendments during the course of the training.

He indicated that at the end of the training stakeholders will get to understand the benefits of domesticating the Rio Conventions while environmental development best practices that are to be piloted through the use of the EKMS for a high value sectoral development plan would also be identified.
 
Speaking on behalf of EPA Executive Director, Dr. Nathaniel T. Blama, the agency’s Chief Technical Adviser, Levi  Z. Piah welcomed participants and thanked them for honoring the invitation to attend the training on the three Rio Convention.

He assured that the presentations will be insightful and urged audience to participate in the discussion to ensure that the training meet its objectives.

Mr. Piah disclosed that as a Focal Point on the Ramsar Convention, the convention which has to do with the protection of wetlands, one of his main objectives is to ensure that the convention is domesticated just as efforts are being made to domesticate the Rio conventions.

According to him, when the Ramsar Convention is domesticated people will get to understand the importance and value of wetland-the natural gift from God that people destroy.