Speeches

 

Statement by Mr. Luc StevensUN Resident Coordinator  On the occasion ofLaunching the MDG-F Joint Programme Amman, 4th March 2010 Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Colleagues I am very pleased to welcome you today to the launch of the Joint Programme on “Climate Change Adaptation to Sustain Jordan MDG Achievements”, which is funded by the Spanish Government through the MDG Achievement Fund.  On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to our key partners of the UN in Jordan – the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Water and Irrigation, Ministry of Education, and the Spanish Government.  The Programme on Climate Change Adaptation is a Joint Programme, which brings together four UN organizations in Jordan, namely UNDP, WHO-CEHA, FAO, and UNESCO, and four Ministries as well as a number of non-governmental organizations. The programme aims at improving sustainable access to water supply sources and strengthening adaptive capacity to climate change threats in the field of health, food and human security, productivity under conditions of severe water scarcity in Jordan, which are expected to be compounded by climate change in the near future.  Climate change represents a significant threat and challenge to Jordan and this joint programme aims at improving the country’s overall ability to respond to climatic changes. The joint programme foresees the improvement of national drinking water quality management systems for the provision of sustainable and reliable water supply  to the Jordanian people. Also, the joint activities will provide extensive capacity development of local communities and governmental partners, as well as the reinforcement of national adaptive strategies by supporting the development of policy and legal frameworks.  I would for Jordan also mention, that this Joint Programme on Climate Change Adaptation is unique in the sense that it for the first time brings together four UN agencies and four Ministries, as well as nongovernmental organizations  under one programme with a view to address the issue of climate change in Jordan. For the UN joint programming is a critical component of the ongoing UN Reform programme, and we know that the challenge is great – coordination and collaboration is time-consuming and at times complex for all parties. This being said, putting our different mandates and comparative advantages to best use – whether it is the UN or Ministries – will inevitably allow us to deliver on Climate Change in a more harmonized, comprehensive, effective and efficient manner. I strongly believe that the dividends our efforts will yield in terms of increased cooperation and the projected programme outcomes are well worth the effort and that we only together can most effectively maximize the impact of our work when addressing developmental challenges such as Climate Change. On this occasion, I would therefore like to acknowledge the work already undertaken by the Government of Jordan and the UN agencies in launching the joint programme on Climate Change. I sincerely hope that the commitment and willingness of all parties will continue throughout the life of the programme - and that it will effectively contribute to combating climate change in Jordan. In doing so support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Jordan.  Thank you