39 participants gathered together for Water Climate and Development Programme Capacity Building launch which was facilitated by the WACDEP Capacity Building Team for Mozambique and the Mozambique Country Water Partnership. The workshop participants comprised academia, such as the Universidade Eduard Mondlane, consultancy firms dealing with Environmental issues, various Government Departments and Ministries associated with water, such as National Directorate for Water - Ministry of Public Works and Housing, National Directorate for Environmental Management – Ministry for Coordination of Environmental Action, Department of Water Supply and Sanitation – Ministry of Public Works and Housing, the Department of Water Resources Management, under the National Directorate for Water and the Ministry of Planning and Development.
Officially opening the workshop, the Deputy National Director of the Ministry of Water emphasized the importance of the WACDEP Programme for Mozambique. He underscored that the recent floods in the country were a sign that a climate resilience programme needed to be in place and there was a need to convey climate resilience messages to decision makers as well as involve as many stakeholders as possible. He further noted that WACDEP is a valid contribution for the implementation of the National Strategy on Climate Change.
Speaking at the workshop, Chair of the Mozambique Water Partnership, Dr. Patrício José stressed the need to invest in capacity building and create awareness on climate change due to its impacts on society. He elaborated that initiatives such as the WACDEP created opportunities for various stakeholders to work together in creating climate resilience and build on the SADC and AMCOW mandates of promoting cooperation for social and economic development among nations. He further noted that although implementation challenges exist, harmonization of programmes promoting climate resilience is possible as there is room for all actors to contribute.
Through the launch, participants were given more information on how the programme will build support at capacity building for climate change management by providing individuals, organizations and other relevant institutions with capacities that help them to work efficiently to tackle climate change management issues by providing a holistic approach that addresses the enabling environment, institutional development and human resources development and managerial systems.
The various presentations also enabled participants to establish dialogue around the capacity development component whose objectives and activities were presented by Professor Dinis Juizo. A presentation on the WACDEP programme in Mozambique was made by Paulo Cesar Selemane, Mozambique WACDEP Project Manager. The participants looked at what has been done and the findings on the detailed assessment report, the trainers and the targeted institutions in Mozambique, The capacity development process and how the Programme will be implemented in Mozambique: training workshops and the mentoring process and the linkages with other components of WACDEP and the expected outcomes.