Save The Children Launches Climate Adaptation Project with Selected Ambae Communities

The Building Resilience and Enhancing Adaptive Capacity in Vanuatu (BRAVE) project was recently kicked off with orientation meetings with the leaders of Penama Provincial Government, 3 Area Councils and their 19 selected communities throughout North – East, South – East and West Ambae.

BRAVE is an 18-month project that aims to test innovative approaches to climate change adaptation proposed for scale-up under the Vanuatu Community-based Climate Resilience Project (VCCRP): a USD$30million climate change adaptation project led by Government of Vanuatu and Save the Children. VCCRP is in the final stages of design and has been approved by the National Advisory Board for submission to the Green Climate Fund.

Christion Tukunamoli, BRAVE Interim Program Manager explained, “The BRAVE Project aims to strengthen the resilience of some vulnerable communities in Ambae as they are trying to recover from the impacts of the volcanic ash fall from Lobenben from 2017 to 2019.

The project focuses on strengthening government at subnational level to deliver child-centred, gender responsive and inclusive approaches to Climate Change Adaptation to achieve goals and priorities outlined in the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) or the People’s Plan 2030.”

BRAVE aims to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities on the island by supporting subnational government to establish Community Disaster and Climate Change Committees (CDCCCs) and enable local capacities for effective management of disaster and climate risks to meet children’s and families’ adaptation needs in their communities.

“I am happy to say that BRAVE is a very important project which has come in at the right time as the Vanuatu Government is working hard to strengthen community resilience on Ambae. BRAVE complements current Government recovery programs implemented by the Ministry of Climate Change and National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) on Ambae,” said Manson Taridenga, Provincial Disaster & Climate Change Officer for Penama.

The focus communities were selected in consultation with the provincial and local authorities, taking into consideration, among others, the geographic, socio-economic and hazard/risk context of the communities, as well as the communities’ willingness and commitment to a partnership with Save the Children in delivering the project objectives.

“Save the Children acknowledges the continuous partnerships with the Ministry of Climate Change, Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, Forestry, Biosecurity, Department of Water Resources, Penama Provincial Technical Advisory Commission (PTAC) and Area Councils for the implementation of the project,” concluded Mr Tukunamoli.