The Burkina Faso recently succeeded in putting in place required structures and mechanisms for coordinating Green Climate Funds activities. These include the establishment of an Executive Secretariat of the NDA, Scientific and Technical Committee to support the NDA, the development of the Country programme and No Objection procedures and the nomination of two entities for Direct Access Accreditation. It was also possible to provide basic knowledge to stakeholders (NDA, governmental and nongovernmental agencies) through the organization of information sharing sessions and a first national dialogue on the Green climate fund. For the established systems to perform, the three main actors involved in the GCF programming in Burkina Faso need in-depth knowledge and adequate skills to accomplish their roles.

Yet, the staff of the Executive secretariat of the NDA and its network do not have sufficient knowledge and skills to perform their respective roles and responsibilities. Indeed, within the Executive Secretariat, one out of the four technical staff has received initial training on the management of the project cycle. However, this initial training is insufficient to become a trainer for others. Moreover, the 20 staff of the Scientific and Technical committee do not have the required knowledge and skills to appraise concepts and proposal with respect to the GCF standards, procedures and tools and recommend for the Non-Objection Letter by the NDA focal point. Finally, relevant GCF stakeholders in Burkina Faso (executing entities, civil society organizations, local governments and private sector) have little or incomplete understanding of the challenges of climate change and lack information about the GCF operational procedures, including the environmental and social safeguards, gender issues and the established No Objection procedure.

It is therefore important to strengthen the technical and operational capabilities and skills of the Executive secretariat of the NDA and its network so that they can provide effective support to the development and implementation of climate adaptation and mitigation actions in Burkina Faso. Specific objectives are to :

(i)  improve skills and knowledge on standards of the GCF project cycle management for the staff of the Executive Secretariat of the NDA, and on climate project development to at least sixteen members of the scientific and technical committee,

(ii)  provide adequate knowledge and capacities on green climate funds processes to at least hundred national and subnational stakeholders (Executing entities, regional and municipal councillors, local associations and nongovernmental organizations), and

(iii)  develop relevant partnership framework for autonomous institutional capacity development to support the strong development and implementation of GCF activities in Burkina Faso.

Approaches to achieve the above will combine training of trainers and learning-by-doing, south-south regional exchange and information brokering and dissemination, and networking. In doing so, it will increase the critical mass of skills necessary for a good coordination of GCF activities in Burkina Faso and the quality of the concepts and proposals developed and implemented in Burkina Faso. Beneficiaries are the five staffs of the Executive Secretariat of the NDA, 20 members of the scientific and technical committee drawn from the relevant ministries with respect to GCF result framework, five potential and actual Executing entities, the 975 staffs of local governments in 13 regions, and 50 members of academia and civil society’s organisation.