Lessons learned on Integrated Strategic Environment Assessment for Sri Lanka

The ISEA-North was accepted by UNDESA as a model approach for post-conflict reconstruction and building back better to mainstream environment and resilience concerns in the planning. To facilitate the lessons sharing, in 2016, IUCN Sri Lanka and UNEP join hands to document the ISEA-North experience as  a “lessons learnt.” The objective was to create a mechanism to share the Sri Lanka experience  with other countries with similar needs.

ISEA – North experience, during the last five years of implementation was recently shared with Nepal and Cote d’Ivoire, during 20 to 23 March, 2017. The main objective of the study tour to Sri Lanka by the two countries was to learn the use of ISEA as a development planning tool for post-crisis reconstruction and recovery. The tour allowed to foster peer-to-peer learning, as participants meet and learn from stakeholders involved in the Sri Lanka ISEA process. The two-country tour (27 participants) started on 20^th March. After consultations with Sri Lanka central level agencies involved in the ISEA process, the participants proceeded to Northern Province. On 21 March, the participants visited the Chundikulam National Park and then met with Hon. Minister of Environment and Provincial Staff to discuss the ground level implementation issues of ISEA-North at the Jaffna Library Premises. On their way back to Colombo on 22 March, the study tour participants visited the Vankalai Sanctuary area in Mannar.

The combination of meetings with agencies in Colombo, meeting provincial authorities in the Northern Province and the field portion of the study tour to observe the ground  level implementation helped the participants to better understand the complexities involved in the post-conflict planning and reconstruction processes.

Back in Colombo on 23 March, the participants engaged themselves in summarizing the observations and lessons learnt. Two countries, namely, Nepal and Cote d’Ivoire outlined what  the two countries wanted to do with UNEP help in terms of the post-disaster (Nepal) and post-conflict  (Cote d’Ivoire) planning and implementation. The draft approaches were presented by the country delegations to receive a feedback.