The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) held a workshop for select civil society, academic and private sector organizations on Wednesday, July 16 to announce the five-year, USD $24-million Pacific-American Climate Fund (PACAM) at the Tanoa Tusitala Conference Center.

Administered by Partners for Global Research and Development, PACAM awards grants to the abovementioned organizations to support innovative projects that reduce long-term vulnerabilities associated with climate change and provide additional "co-benefits", such as livelihood enhancement, food security, improved health, better governance, and sustainable natural resource management.

During the PACAM's official launch in March of this year, USAID/Pacific Islands Mission Director Gloria D. Steele said, "PACAM will support initiatives that will help reduce long-term vulnerabilities associated with climate change and achieve a sustainable, climate-resilient development at community level."

"This project demonstrates the U.S. Government's continuing commitment to expand its engagement with the Pacific region," Director Steele added.

The PACAM facility aims to support projects focused on climate change adaptation in the areas of natural resources and water management, and livelihood development and income diversification.

The grant facility spans 12 Pacific Island Countries: Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI), Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

More information on PACAM can be found at http://www.pgrd.org/projects/pacam/.