Management arrangement for REDD+ Implementation
Ethiopia will follow a partially decentralized approach for its REDD+ institutions and hence responsibilities are vertically divided between national, regional, zonal and Woreda levels. Regional level actors will implement REDD+ functions at their jurisdictions with some degree of independence from the federal institution.
A nested approach may be implemented with any combination of scales at regional, zonal, woreda or kebele levels. Guidelines will be formulated to govern the design and implementation of nested REDD+ actions.
The principles for institutional arrangement for REDD actions include compliance to the political structure, good governance, decentralization to appropriate levels, inclusiveness, cost effectiveness and accountability in all REDD+ implementation activities.
Three entities have already been formed during Readiness for REDD+ management arrangements at the federal level and recently in four forest potential regional states. The Federal REDD Steering Committee (RSC), chaired by MEFCC, is made up of high level representatives, higher officials from regional governments and state ministers of relevant sectoral ministries. Its main functions are an advisory and guiding role, and creating linkages and coordination on REDD issues and activities to senior government agencies.
The Federal REDD Technical Working Group (RTWG) is made up of active practitioners in the REDD+ field, with representation from research, academia, governments of key REDD+ sectors, NGOs and r development partners. The RTWG is organized into three task-specific task forces namely REDD+ MRV/RL, REDD+ Strategy and SESA/ESMF task forces These task forces have been actively engaged in providing technical backstopping and quality assurance in the development of different readiness technical assessment reports, documents including safeguarding instruments, FRL/MRV and the REDD+ strategy. The National REDD+ Secretariat with a national coordinator and key technical& administrative staff is established at MEFCC directly accountable to the state minister of the forest sector. The Secretariat has been routinely coordinating the readiness activities supported by the RSC and RTWG. The Secretariat is responsible for the design and implementation of an effective and functional national REDD+ program.
MEFCC decided that the National REDD+ Secretariat will continue coordinate the REDD+ implementation during which it will ensure the mobilization of investment funds, coordinate the implementation of enabling activities, supervising and technical backstopping for physical REDD+ implementation, periodic execution of forest assessment in collaboration with the MRV unit at MEFFCC and the maintenance and operations of national forest information system along with the dissemination of information through appropriate channels.
At Regional level, similar arrangements as in the federal level were put in place in four regional states (Oromia, Amhara, Tigary and SNNP) to ensure an effective and devolved REDD+ implementation arrangement that is consistent with the national level organization. These regional level bodies are: Regional REDD Steering Committees (RRSC), Regional REDD Technical Working Groups (RRTWG) and Regional REDD+ Coordination Units (RRCUs). The other regional states namely Benishangul-Gumuz, Gambella, Ethiopia-Somali, Afar, and Harari, are currently represented by REDD+ Focal Persons and similar REDD+ entities will be instituted gradually. (). The Regional REDD+ Coordination Units the regional counterpart of the National REDD+ Secretariat will largely be responsible in coordinating implementing actors at regional level and monitoring the implementation activities (including safeguards and MRV activities within its jurisdiction) by lower level implementing units (e.g. Woreda REDD+ Implementation Units-WRIUs).
The regional level REDD+ management entities are constituted in more or less the same way as in the federal arrangement while taking into account regional circumstances. The overall implementation arrangement at the regional level is expected to provide a coordination platform in bringing together all relevant actors together and ensure their full participation in the planning, execution and monitoring of REDD+ implementation activities within the regional jurisdiction. Wherever appropriate, similar Zonal level coordination mechanisms will be put in place.
Lower level REDD+ institutions are being developed, and will be part of Regional REDD+ implementation arrangement. Wereda level REDD+ implementation units will serve as a coordination platform where relevant REDD+ actors will fully coordinate in implementing REDD+ activities across sectors and across spatial scales within each region. For this, while aWereda REDD+ Steering committee, chaired by the Woreda Administration. will oversee and regularly monitor the implementation of REDD+ activities at wereda and local level and Wereda REDD+ Implementing Unit composed of major implementing actors at Wereda level (e.g. agriculture, livestock, forestry, land use etc...) will be responsible for day to day implementation of REDD+ activities. A Woreda REDD+ coordinator will be responsible for coordination of REDD+ implementation in the short term, and this task will be taken over by the government eventually following the management arrangement described above. In making the management arrangement at Wereda (local) level more efficient and cost-effective, existing structures for other developmental projects (e.g., SLMP Woreda Team) can be used (if available) in the management and coordination of REDD+ activities.