The 1st Steering Committee Meeting of the SCS SAP project was held online on the 29 and 30 of June, 2021 with official representatives from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam and the UNEP Task Manager for the project, with the support of SEAFDEC, UNOPS and the Project Coordination Unit staff. National teams also participated as observers with a total of 51 participants in total. Over the course of one year, three regional meetings and over 30 national meetings and bilateral have been held in preparation. Regret was expressed that the meeting could not meet in person due to COVID-19 but it was stressed that “This project will not be stopped by the pandemic!”
In the opening statements UNEP, SEAFDEC, UNOPS and Interministerial chairs from participating countries relevant ministries welcomed the project. “The SAP implementation dream is now finally underway, after a long gap since its adoption in 2008” (Isabelle Vanderbeck, UNEP).
The Project Steering Committee, under the guidance of Mr Ukkrit Satapoomin from the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and National Technical Working Group Chair for Thailand as Chairperson, welcomed the efforts undertaken to prepare the Inception Phase reports including Inception Report, workplan and budget as an important step to ensure smooth implementation of the project given previous delays in the project implementation. Key documents were discussed and adopted including the workplan and budget, and the request for a no-cost extension of the project until June 2024.
Participating countries presented their progress over the last 6 months in defining their national activities to achieve the SAP targets, and also stressed that much has been done to implement the SAP at the national level, and progress has already been achieved, although much remains to be done. Targets would need some revision along with the key sites for targeted support, in order to maximize impact and ensure sustainability.
