During the 2012 Climate Investment Funds Partnership Forum, which took place in Istanbul, Turkey, on November 6 and 7, Mafalda Duarte, CIF Coordinator for the African Development Bank, represented the Bank and other multilateral development banks (MDBs) on a panel discussing Civil Society Participation in the Climate Investment Funds.
Duarte articulated the fact that MDBs currently have procedures in place for dealing with stakeholder engagement at the project level and that there is scope for improving the mechanisms that promote stakeholder engagement when dealing with country-level investment plans.
The Partnership Forum was part of a broader range of Climate Investment Funds meetings held over the period of a week including Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program sub-committee meetings, Pilot Project for Climate Resilience Program sub-committee meetings, Clean Technology Fund sub-committee meetings, Forest Investment Program sub-committee meetings and a one-day Private Sector Forum.
The AfDB has been involved with the CIF since its inception in 2008. Today, the Bank is actively supporting African nations and regions as they develop CIF investment plans, by channelling CIF funds, as well as its own co-financing, to turn those plans into action.