The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Team Leader for Sustainable Economic Development, Dorsla Farcarthy, has expressed optimism that the introduction of Environmental Studies and Climate Change graduate program at the University of Liberia is a giant stride towards bridging and identifying capacity gap in environment and climate change sectors.
According to Farcarthy, the graduate program will support Liberia’s effort towards the attainment of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and assured that students graduating from the program will enable Liberia be endowed with critical mass of qualified personnel in such important discipline.
Speaking at the program for the inauguration of the School of Environmental Studies and Climate Change at the University of Liberia at the weekend, Farcarthy said with this environmental studies program for graduate level at the University of Liberia, the capacity will be available at low cost, and will support interventions in environment, climate change, forestry, agriculture and related areas.
He noted that the program will also benefit the growing community of conservationists, natural resource managers, researchers, regulatory bodies, development organizations, and the private sector.
“While the UNDP, EPA Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) project have supported the development of the curriculum for the program and will provide the needed reading resources, the University of Liberia will provide the necessary teaching infrastructure and lecturers. These good gestures notwithstanding, there is a huge resource gap for the program to
operate at full capacity,” Farcarthy observed.
Meanwhile, the UNDP Official has appealed to other stakeholders, including the government, legislature and development partners to support the program because, according to him, it is essential to Liberia’s capacity needs in environment, climate change and related sectors.
Farcarthy thanked the Green Climate Fund for the support to Liberia’s National Adaptation Plans, the Environmental Protection Agency and all its partners for their collaboration and support, and reaffirmed UNDP’s continuous support to the successful rollout of the program and many other programs and projects.
TSS/abj/APA