Ten organizations members of the Nicaraguan Alliance on Climate Change (ANACC) met in order to know the progress made and the steps to follow related to the development of Joint Principles on Adaptation (JPA), framed in the third phase of the Southern Voices on Adaptation Program.
The main objective of the JPA is to develop a guideline which can be used by civil society organizations to influence the improvement of adaptation planning at the national level, becoming the minimum standards to ensure an effective response to climate change.
Because the work of the current phase of the Southern Voices Program is focused on adaptation, the ANACC decided to develop its own definition, considering the context of their members, which engage in advocacy in different areas of the country. This concept will be the starting point of the work related to the testing and development of the JPA.
The first version of the JPA was developed by the different Southern Voices Networks during the workshops held last April in Nepal, during the 8th International Conference of Community Based Adaptation. This version has to be tested and revised by the ANACC. The JPA will be tested according to three different modes: advocacy, dialogue and capacity building. This is a key phase which will enrich the JPA when integrating the different visions and experiences of ANACC's membership.
The program aims to have a final version of the JPA which considers the practice of national adaptation, by December 2015 to be presented during the COP 21 to be held in Paris, France.
Also, the workshop served to inform the network where the Southern Voices program is currently working and to share the process for selection of new networks and organizations allied to the program, which in turn contributes to the strengthening of strategic partnerships within the ANACC.
It is intended that the development of the JPA will be performed on the basis of the experiences and needs of the poorest and most vulnerable to climate change populations, through inclusive and participatory processes where there is a balance between the contributions of men and women.
Systematize adaptation measures to climate change, the feedback from the road map on the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change, the development of the PCA, among other activities, are part of the priorities of the ANACC. These activities will be developed in the short and medium term as part of its operational plan. These actions will be carried out through the advocacy efforts of ANACC member organizations in different territories.