News
Programme ART/UNDP - Cantón Aguarico
In the framework of the Yasuní-ITT Initiative, the National Secretary for Planning and Development - SENPLADES by its Spanish acronym - requested the UNDP/ART Ecuador Programme mid 2012 to facilitate its methodology to prioritize territorial development needs of Aguarico Canton, Orellana Province. This way, local authorities would have a tool for the local management of future contributions that may come from the Yasuní-ITT Initiative.
The UNDP/ART Programme started its activities in Aguarico Canton in Orellana Province in October 2012. The local officer commenced his work at the Municipality, located in Tiputini. The main achievements during the first weeks are related to approaching key local actors in the area with a proposal to work with, review and articulate the Development and Territorial Management Plans of the Canton and its Parishes, and to visits with the objective of planning participatory workshops in Aguarico's parishes.
One of the main actors is the Mayor of Aguarico Canton, Prof. Franklin Cox, who received the official delegation of representatives of SENPLADES, the Yasuní-ITT Initiative and the UNDP/ART Programme. He showed a keen interest in supporting the work proposal and named Arch. José Martínez, head of the Municipal Planning Department, as the Programme's focal point.
Once settled in, the local officer started his visits to the Canton's parishes to coordinate the participatory workshops together with the boards of the Parish Unions. So far, the Parishes of Yasuní, Tiputini, Santa María de Huiririma and Nuevo Rocafuerte have been visited. The workshops are planned to start in the second week of November, running into mid December.
It is worth mentioning that work contacts have been extended with other actors in the Canton, such as the organizations Solidaridad Internacional and the Network for Solidary Tourism of the River Napo Basin (REST), both of which are involved in community-based tourism and seek to participate actively in this process.
Besides the participatory workshops at parish-level, a Local Programming Cycle will start mid November for local participatory priorization in Aguarico Canton, and contacts will be extended to other actors interested in getting involved into the process.
Posted on: November 7, 2012
