IFAD 09/07

Rome, 27 September 2007 – Climate change will hit the poorest, most vulnerable communities hardest, said IFAD’s president, Lennart Båge, prior to a meeting with Erich Stather, Germany’s State Secretary at the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Båge will speak at an InWEnt-organized climate change seminar in Berlin on 2 October. InWEnt, Capacity Building International, Germany, offers human resources development, training and dialogue in the field of  international cooperation. Every year, about 55,000 people take part in InWent programmes. The seminar will take place at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Stresemannstrasse, from 9:30 am to 11:30 am.
“Poor rural people are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the least able to adapt and cope,” said Båge. “They live on ecologically fragile land such as mountains, coastal areas and deserts, and depend on vulnerable sectors like agriculture, fisheries and forestry. They also lack the institutional and financial capacity to protect themselves.”

Båge points to the torrential rains and flash floods currently affecting more than a million people across at least 17 countries in West, Central and East Africa. The extraordinarily severe downpours have killed scores of people, destroyed crops and hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases. 

“Not only must we help poor rural people adapt and cope with climate change, we must enable them to be part of the solution. This is the big challenge,” said Båge. “Climate change is not only an environmental issue; it has clear economic and social consequences. It is one of the most serious threats the world faces.”
Båge heads the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB) High Level Committee on Programmes. At the request of the UN’s Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Båge convened a climate change meeting of senior representatives of a number of United Nations Agencies in June 2007 at IFAD headquarters.
That meeting will be followed up by further consultations among the member agencies to prepare a report on four critical aspects of climate change: mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance. The aim is to reinforce the collective impact of the UN system in these areas.
The CEB initiative is also providing background to the Secretary-General for various inter-governmental discussions on climate change this year, notably this week’s high-level event at the United Nations and the Conference of Parties of the UNFCCC to be held in Indonesia in December.
Over the years, Germany has been an active board member and a major contributor to IFAD replenishments, supplementary funds and cofinancing.

“Germany is a valued supporter and partner of IFAD,” said Båge. “It has consistently supported our efforts to reduce poverty in rural areas, particularly in Africa.”

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.