UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative

  The role of non-governmental actors in poverty-environment mainstreaming

Mainstreaming efforts entail the cooperation of many government actors (head of state’s office, environment, finance and planning bodies, sector and subnational bodies, political parties and parliament, national statistics office and judicial system), non-governmental actors (civil society, academia, business and industry, the general public and local communities, and the media) and development actors in the environment, development and poverty reduction fields. In our understanding, non-governmental actors can play a key role in advancing the integration of poverty-environment linkages into national development planning and are often crucial and powerful advocates. A mainstreaming effort should be based on careful analysis and an understanding of the roles of different stakeholders in the country’s development processes. Involving all relevant actors, including local communities, is an integral part of a mainstreaming initiative and should take place throughout the effort. Read More

Knowledge resources

Throughout the process, the Poverty-Environment Initiative supports stakeholder engagement, trying to ensure that stakeholder positions and views of the poor are fully represented and that non-governmental actors have fair access to official processes and information. The PEI has collected and published knowledge resources that help to inform such engagement and advocacy efforts. [Stakeholder elibrary]