Vanuatu Government benefits from Assets placed in communities by Climate Change projects.
The Government of Vanuatu as of March this year claimed the ownership of all assets placed by the Vanuatu Coastal Adaptation Project (VCAP) in around 41 communities throughout the six provinces around the country. This transition has been made official through a brief handing over ceremony organized by the Ministry of Climate Change and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) head office in Port Vila. The ceremony saw the handing over of assets by Mr. Donald Wouloseje, Program Analyst, at UNDP Vanuatu to the Director of the Department of Climate Change Mr. Mike Waiwai, who received the assets on behalf of the Vanuatu Government.
The assets include infrastructures such as buildings, roads, bridges, vehicles, boats, communications equipment, office furniture and equipment placed in all Area Council Buildings in the Area Councils in project sites, early warning systems stations and others.
These assets as supplies and equipment handed over to the Government represent the assistance of the UNDP to the Government of Vanuatu in connection with the VCAP Project, transfer of such equipment is in accordance with the UNDP’s Standard Basic Assistance Agreement and as well the Project Document signed by UNDP and the Vanuatu Government at the start of the project implementation.
In handing over the assets to the Vanuatu Government on behalf of UNDP, Mr. Wouloseje thanked the Vanuatu Government for its continues partnership with UNDP over the years and assured the government that UNDP will continue to provide support to addressing climate change issues in Vanuatu.
Director Waiwai in receiving the assets on behalf of the Vanuatu Government acknowledged the support UNDP has rendered to the Government through in its efforts to increase the resilience of its people to the impacts of climate change through the VCAP project.
The VCAP Project which got its funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has transferred all assets to the Government of Vanuatu with the aim to fulfill its overall project objective, which is to improve the resilience of the coastal zone to the impacts of climate change in order to sustain livelihoods, food production and preserve and improve the quality of life in targeted vulnerable areas throughout Vanuatu.
The VCAP Project is one of the Climate Change projects that address the National Sustainable Development Plan (NSDP) from national level down to the communities focusing more on communities’ needs especially with access to roads, evacuation centers, bridges, early warning systems for cyclones and vulnerable areas with the coastal boundaries in many islands around the country.
As part of the successful implementation of phase one of this project which ended in December 2019, UNDP has officially announced the second phase of this project for 2021 with its design phase starting this year.
