01 Dec, 2009

Review of first-call projects now complete

Responses from the global community to the CPWF’s first call for proposals in the Andes, the Mekong and the Nile, launched last July, have all undergone the review process. Winning proposals have been invited for contract negotiation and inception workshops that will take place next January in those three basins, with project commencement following as quickly as possible upon contractual accord. 

Due to the sharpened focus of each BDC, interelational project scope, investment level, and the shorter response time given for submissions, fewer proposals were received than were for Phase 1. They were, however, of a generally high quality.

Among the 13 projects to be financed under this call, seven will be lead by CG Centers, three by local or regional NGOs, and one by an ARI.

On the total budget allocated of approx. US$17m on 4 years, around 45% will be granted to CG Centers, 10% to ARIs, 20% to local and regional NGOs, and 25% to NARES.

Addressing climate change: Spirituality and sustainability

Following-up on an initiative in which former CPWF director, Jonathan Woolley, had been engaged since our first International Forum on Water and Food in Vientiane in 2006, I was invited to Bangkok for the Asian Institute of Technology’s Spirituality & Sustainability Forum, a preparatory side-event of the COP-15 Climate Change Conference.

Meeting with representatives of the leaders of Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Islamic and Hebraic religions, I had the opportunity to deliver a presentation on ‘The inseparable water and food crises: How can we overcome them?’.   It was invigorating to use examples from CPWF tprojects o describe how the reintroduction of a spiritual dimension to water use - expressed in an individual’s behavior, and in local and global policy changes - can help revitalise care for others, the environment, and society. 

Recognition of CPWF work in the Mekong basin

A week later I joined our Mekong BDC team, led by Kim Geheb, for a tour of key partners and decision-makers of the basin together with Research Director Larry Harrington. In Vientiane and Phnom Penh it was confirmed that the Mekong Basin Development Challenge, with its strong livelihoods focus, is catching much interest, including attracting attention from some dam designers.

(L-R) Alain Vidal, Kim Geheb, David Clayton and Larry Harrington

A sign of wider recognition of past and ongoing CPWF work in the basin is AusAID’s announcement to support the BDC at the level of US$3m through activities on the political ecology of decision-making, capacity building and scaling out.  Having AusAID as a new donor, together with the recent confirmation of the renewed US$2m support from the World Bank for 2010, helps us foresee the next year under excellent auspices.

“The whole is bigger and better than the sum of its parts”: Learning from Phase 1

In response to an online survey, respondents from 68 CPWF projects in 45 countries commented on what went well, and what could be expanded upon in Phase 2. 

Many project leaders mentioned linking with new people and networks as a benefit of operations under the CPWF. The program’s diversity, multi-disciplinarity, trans-disciplinarity, and complementarity were considered gains of their project’s engagement. A wider geographical reach from adopting a basin-scale perspective, as well as the boosted influence of small institutions, were advantages attributed to the CPWF’s network and partnership focus.

The CPWF drive for real outcomes and impact was mentioned as a new and positive approach for some, and linked to comments on the benefits of having increased access to literature, data, technical pieces, high quality science, and support for an adaptive approach to research.

Matching project length to expected impact; valuing institutional memory; enabling good communication between projects and across basins; allocating resources to meet demands: areas where survey respondents made suggestions for improvement were analysed by the report authors as recommendations for CPWF Phase 2. 

The online report includes the management team’s response on how each case is being addressed.

With my best regards,
Alain
a.vidal@cgiar.org