Panama City, Panama, December 3, 2025- The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) was featured for its role in building national capacities within Caribbean Small Island Developing States. Highlighting the organisation, was Executive Director Dr. Ronen C.A Francis, who presented on ‘Building National Capacities for Reporting in Caribbean SIDS, during session three (3) of the Twenty-Third Session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC23) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Panama.
During his presentation Dr. Francis reaffirmed PISLM’s commitment to ensuring that, “No Caribbean Small Island Developing State (SIDS) is left behind,” highlighting the institution’s role as the UNCCD-designated regional center for the Latin America and Caribbean region.
The Executive Director also discussed the involvement of the Inter-Government Organisation (IGO), as a regional center, which ensures the provision of regionally tailored and technically robust support under the overall coordination of the UNCCD Secretariat and draws on contributions from technical partners such as APACHETA & Conservation International. Francis explained that these centers regional centers have been delivering training both in-person and online, providing technical support for data processing and interpretation, responding to questions from countries, and reviewing national reports for accuracy and consistency.
“We engage in countries and make sure what is being reported is specific to the conditions on the ground,” Francis commented.
He also highlighted five transformative undertakings in collaboration with APACHETA, that strengthens the-based decision-making for sustainable land management.
In addition to the undertakings, he spoke of the organisation’s leadership in convening regional and national inception workshops, establishing country governance models for PRAIS, and coordinating National Focal Points, such as the GEF/GCF Focal Point meeting in Barbados recently, Steering Committees, and Working Groups.
As the organisation prepares for the upcoming year, it will continue building sustainable national capacities for policy, decision-making, and future reporting cycles, including the upcoming PRAIS reporting.
The Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management remains a trusted regional partner committed to working by and with Small Island Developing States to empower them with the tools, systems, and knowledge needed to meet global obligations while strengthening national development priorities.
