LIFE-AR touted as a blueprint for climate-resilient future
The Least Developed Country (LDC) for Effective Adaptation and Resilience (LIFE-AR) initiative has been described as a Malawi-driven answer to the climate crisis and a strategic vehicle to achieve the LDC 2050 vision for a climate-resilient future.
Director of Monitoring and Evaluation in the Department of Economic Planning and Development, Sophie Kang’oma, said this when she opened a five-day LIFE-AR monitoring and evaluation workshop in Salima on Wednesday.
LIFE-AR is an LDC-led initiative designed to strengthen climate resilience through long-term, locally driven adaptation solutions implemented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change through the Environmental Affairs Department.
With a focus on decentralized decision-making, inclusive governance, and direct access to climate finance, it aims at empowering the most vulnerable communities to effectively address the impacts of climate change.
Speaking during the opening of a LIFE-AR Monitoring, Evaluation, and Leaning Capacity Strengthening Workshop, monitoring exercise, and Quarterly and Bi-Annual Reporting activities in Salima, Kang’oma said the initiative is a promise that by 2030, Malawi will be on a resilient development pathway.
“This initiative represents a strategic vehicle for climate resilience,” Kang’oma said.
“A vision without a robust system to measure its progress, learn from its actions and adapt its strategies, remains just a promise. This is why you are here today, knowing that your role is not just important but also fundamental,” she said.
She added; “You are the architects of our evidence and weavers who connect our global vision to national policies. This meeting is therefore aimed at strengthening your collective capability to tell that story of change with clarity, accuracy, and power.”
LIFE-AR Programmes Manager Eddah Lijoni Jere said the participants, who have been drawn from LIFE-AR’s pilot districts of Salima, Mangochi, and Rumphi are crucial in the implementation of the project.
Jere said it is important to involve district officers to ensure that LIFE-AR remains adaptable, responsive, and effective in dealing with the evolving challenges of climate change.
“Building local capacity is one of LIFE-AR’s key goals to ensure that a significant portion of climate finance reaches local communities. To do this, local institutions must be strong enough to manage resources and implement solutions. Through learning, these institutions build the necessary knowledge and capabilities to take charge of climate actions effectively, ensuring long-term sustainability,” Jere said.
“So, LIFE-AR also integrates robust Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) systems to track progress, measure impact, and ensure accountability. MEL helps identify what works and what doesn’t, feeding back into the learning process so that the initiative can adjust and improve continuously,” she said.
Malawi is one of the frontline countries to implement the LDC 2050 vision through LIFE-AR, having joined the initiative at COP25, which took place in 2019 and was launched on November 28, 2022.
The initiative is in three phases, of which 2022 to 2023 was meant for establishment, while 2024 to 2026 is the test and evolve stage, and 2027 to 2031, the initiative will be scaled.
LIFE-AR’s business-unusual, bottom-up approach puts those at the receiving end of climate change in the power to determine adaptation interventions required to restore their environment and build their resilience.
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