The country activities are identified and selected as follows in all partner countries:

Inception mission

Hosted by the Government of the CC DARE country, the inception mission is undertaken by the CC DARE team to initiate the collaboration between CC DARE and the partner country.

The CC DARE mission has three key objectives:

1. Increasing awareness of CC DARE among national stakeholders including government, NGO’s, academia, and private sector as well as among donors and organizations engaged in climate change adaptation and vulnerability initiatives and activities;
2. Mapping how CC DARE can contribute to national adaptation priorities in the context of other programming initiatives supported by UNEP, UNDP and others;
3. Carry out consultations with national stakeholders and development partners for the identification of national priorities and needs related to climate change adaptation and vulnerability in order to scope potential initiatives for support through CC DARE, in the context of all other ongoing/planned initiatives by UNEP, UNDP and others.

The inception mission is thus expected to:

• Ensure government and other stakeholder expectations of what CC DARE seeks to achieve is clear and that country recommendations and priorities are incorporated into CC DARE:

  -	Communicate the concept and scope of CC DARE clearly to stakeholders and its strategic fit into national development plans and global adaptation efforts;
  -	Capitalize on the national achievements related to development and climate change as well as build on and coordinate with on-going adaptation initiatives (such as, but not limited to, NAPA, National Communications, AAP, NCSA Action Plan);
  -	Facilitate discussions between stakeholders intervening in the local, regional, national or supranational context pertaining to adaptation to climate change;
  -	Liaise with national stakeholders on related activities and identify opportunities for supporting or complementing other activities to avoid duplication of efforts.

• Clarify role of UNEP-UNDP in supporting CC DARE:

  -	Support project formulation and improvement;
  -	Provide technical support on certain topics (such as water resource management, mainstreaming adaptation into national policy making, agriculture and climate modelling) to project proponents;
  -	Elaborate on the project activities and define the modality of execution of CC DARE in accordance with the national context;
  -	Discuss and set up appropriate operational mechanisms and implementation arrangements.

• Start scoping potential areas of support through CC DARE:

  -	Sketching ideas for activities/proposals;
  -	Assist in the drafting of proposals;
  -	Compile lessons learned;
  -	Integrate learning points from mission into overall CC DARE.

Proposal and selection of projects

Following the inception mission, national stakeholders are invited to submit a brief proposal summarizing key elements of their planned project (project proposal template). The submitted projects are reviewed by the CC DARE review committee based on selected criteria. Eligible projects are then approved, rejected or requested to submit an improved proposal.