Washington, D.C. (November 27, 2019) — The Adaptation Fund has enhanced its suite of knowledge products with the launch of an interactive new learning tool aimed at helping developing country organizations improve access to adaptation finance.

The Fund’s new E-Learning Course on Direct Access provides an overview and guide of the Fund’s accreditation process of becoming an implementing entity with the Fund, and also covers its project design and implementation processes to help implementers develop effective projects on the ground. It has a particular focus on imparting user-friendly knowledge of the Fund’s requirements for accreditation, and understanding and applying environmental, social and gender considerations when formulating and implementing sustainable climate change adaptation projects.

It is organized into two modules, and utilizes case studies to guide users through all of the key steps. It also contains quizzes to test the participant’s knowledge along the way. It is self-paced, but users generally can complete it in about three hours in one go, and will receive a certificate upon completion.

The new course is available online now, and will be officially launched during a side event to be held on Dec. 5 at 3 pm in Room 2 during the UN COP 25 climate conference in Madrid, Spain.

The course is largely designed to help prospective national implementing entities to achieve accreditation and develop projects under the Fund’s pioneering Direct Access modality — which empowers country ownership in adaptation. The course is aimed at helping implementing entities toward attaining accreditation, and to support them in developing high-quality proposals.

“The E-Learning Course is an important knowledge tool for capacity building at the national and subnational level as it tackles the specific challenges and opportunities associated with the Direct Access modality and in particular the capacity gaps in financial management and fiduciary standards, environmental, social and gender standards and its mitigation factors,” said Ms. Cristina Dengel, Knowledge Management Officer of the Adaptation Fund. “The course is a highly interactive tool, featuring various learning methods, including case studies and quizzes along all lessons testing the participant’s knowledge. It also includes additional resources and guidance documents and is self-paced and thus allows users to take it at their convenience.”

The E-Learning Course, which was produced by the Adaptation Fund with the Open Learning Campus (OLC) of the World Bank Group and is hosted by the OLC, is free and open to anyone interested in taking it. It is targeted especially at the Fund’s Designated Authorities within developing country governments, as well as accredited national implementing entities (NIEs) making use of Direct Access, prospective NIEs, other Fund partners, and the private sector.

The knowledge tool further supports the Fund’s emerging ‘Learning and Sharing’ pillar of its five-year Medium-Term Strategy launched last year, which is designed to enhance quality adaptation actions, innovative practices and learning across the adaptation field to further support the objectives of the Paris Agreement and UN Sustainable Development Goals.

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