With 14 participants from Focal Point of the CREWS Project and Representatives from MOWRAM’s Dpeartments, the GWP Cambodia, Drought Consultant. This meeting was co-chaired by the CREWS Project’s Focal Point, H.E. Dr Seth Vannareth and the Chair of the GWP Cambodia, Dr Mak Solieng.
This Alignment and Kick-off Meeting was organized to introduce the project with detailed work plan and timelines, and to map out the multidisciplinary stakeholders for forming the Project Working Group to contribute to the development of the Cambodia Drought Management Action Plan.
The meeting started with Opening Remarks delivered by H.E. Dr Seth Vannareth, followed by a statement from Mr Robert Stefanski from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a project Introduction and Focal Point Alignment from the GWP SEA’s Regional Coordinator, then proceeded with the presentations of project’s objectives, outputs, work plan and result of drought multidisciplinary stakeholders mapping, and roadmap to achieve Cambodia’s Drought Management Action Plan, and a plenary discussion on detailed work plan and timeline.
The main outcomes from the meeting were as follows:
- All, Focal Point and Departments Representatives were introduced to each other, and they know and support this project.
- The detailed work plan, deliverables and timelines were discussed and agreed upon, and it was agreed by all that Learning Activities should be Part of the Drought Management Action Plan development process.
- H.E. Dr Vannareth proposed to integrate three more days of Capacity Building on Drought Risks Assessment -- to be provided by the National Drought Consultant to the Working Group Members, particularly to the Departments’ Technical Staff of MOWRAM who will be performing these works in the future. Human resources development is one of the five highest priorities of the Pentagonal Strategy of the 7th Government Legislature.
- All agreed on having the potential Representatives from MOWRAM’s Departments, Line Ministries and Research and Academia be Project Working Group Members, and to form the Project Working Group, H.E. Dr Seth Vannareth will take actions based on the outcomes of the meeting.
- A Telegram Group Network will be set up for the Project Working Group Members to use as a platform for communication and for providing more inputs, comments, and suggestions in addition to the stakeholder consultation workshops.
- All were interested in having the drought management action plan ready and developed as soon as possible so that it can be launched to be promoted, as it is a good momentum for project development and funding for implementation.
To wrap the meeting, several steps need to be taken:
- H.E. Dr Seth Vannareth will prepare a request for a Representative's assignment from the MOWRAM’s departments, Line Ministries and Research and Academia.
- Dr Mak Solieng will get the summary report of the meeting ready soon for reporting and use as a reference.
- Dr Mak Solieng will propose the three-day Drought Risks Assessment Capacity Building to the WMO and GWP SEA.
- The national drought consultant will start implementing the activities: National Drought Risks Assessment, National Drought Adaptation and Mitigation Action Plan 2025-2029 once the official authorisation is made.
For more information on the latest updates or progress of the project, please contact Dr Mak Solieng solieng@hotmail.com or Fany Wedahuditama fany.wedahuditama@gwpsea.org.