A new phase begins for Southern Voices with the start of 2016. During the first two years from 2014-15 the main focus was on developing and testing the Joint Principles for Adaptation (JPA) – as a civil society benchmark for good national adaptation policies.

 Now that the JPA is updated in a version 3 and launched at COP21 in Paris the focus is changing:

• Influence adaptation policies:  This is the new success criterion and the ambition for the SVA-partners while in phase 1 the aim was simply to test the JPA and engage in dialogue with policy-makers.  
• Each partner select specific objectives with the aim of influencing national and sub-national adaption policies
• Increase international recognition for the JPA as a tool achieved through demonstrating results at policy level

But policy change does not happen overnight, it is a long term process, requiring concerted efforts by partners – this is a key lesson from phase one. So to support partner networks phase 2 includes the following new elements: 

• A stronger emphasis on capacity – building based on strategies for influencing policies
• Setting up a JPA community of practice to promote learning between partner networks
• Using JPA to link national with international adaptation arrangements – such as the UNFCCC Nairobi Work Programme and the NAP Expo’s

New two year grant from CISU
The new 2-year phase for SV-Adapt was granted by the Civil Society in Development (CISU) in November 2015. The application of SV-Adapt gained the highest score in the 2015 call for applications for CISU’s Climate and Development Fund for Danish NGOs. The grant will allow for nine of the national partner networks to continue in the project over the next two years. See the LFA and Strategy for SVA Phase 2 and Policy Change Objectives adopted by partner networks

Key interlinkages between objectives in SV-Adapt: