REDD+ Himalaya workshop on Financial Modality and Fund Disbursement Procedure

REDD+ Himalaya, a new programme of the Regional REDD+ Initiative under the Transboundary Landscape Regional Programme, contributes to the development of implementation of incentive-based mechanisms for conservation and management of natural resources through an innovative approach which promotes REDD+ co-benefits.

The Regional REDD+ Initiative is supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and is being rolled out from 2014 to 2018 with government partners in four countries —Bhutan, India, Myanmar and Nepal. A letter of agreement was signed between Department of Forest, Ministry of Natural Resource and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) in early 2016. The Forest Research Institute (FRI) under MONREC is a partner organisation to carry out activities with the objective to analyse drivers of deforestation and capacity building of REDD+ Stakeholders.

To officially launch the programme in Myanmar, a REDD+ Himalaya kick-off and planning meeting was held at the Forest Research Institute, Yezin, Nay Pyi Daw 16-17 May 2016. The meeting emphasised a need to understand the programmes reporting and finance disbursement mechanism. A workshop was suggested on ‘Financial Modality and Fund Disbursement Procedure’ to be held at ICIMOD. This workshop will be conducted by experts from ICIMOD’s finance department and will train project staff from Myanmar, particularly those that oversee finance (understanding budget, compliance, audit, financial report, managing exchange rate, fund disbursement etc.) and administration for the REDD+ Himalaya, in finance and procurement management as guided by ICIMOD policy for partners.

Workshop objective

The Forest Department, MONREC and ICIMOD are jointly organising a two-day workshop on ‘Financial Modality and Fund Disbursement Procedure’ in Kathmandu 5-6 July 2016. The meeting will be organised to understand financial procedure, reporting and disbursement mechanism as per ICIMOD policy for partners. The meeting also envisages smooth coordination of documentation, financial monitoring and reporting under the letter of agreement signed between ICIMOD and MONREC.