NAPAssess: a decision support tool for use in the Sudan NAPA process

As part of Sudan’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) process the Stockholm Environment Institute has developed a new tool to aid in the development of NAPA programmes. The NAPAssess model aims to assist in the process of identifying adaptation practical actions, and evaluate and prioritise adaptation initiatives. It is an interactive computer program providing a tool to facilitate the use of multi-criteria assessment techniques in order to identify the highest priority list of climate change adaptation programmes, projects and policies that will be summarised in the NAPA report.This paper briefly describes the evolving role of NAPAssess in the Sudan NAPA process by a fourfold focusthe use of multicriteria assessment in the Sudan contextlinkages between the tool and LEG Annotated Guidelinesthe various computational aspects of the toolan illustrative case study from one of the stakeholder consultations where the tool has been usedThe tool itself is organised around a multi-staged process involving: identification of vulnerable priorities definition of adaptation initiatives development of stakeholder-driven evaluation criteria assigning weights to the criteria prioritising initiatives to best met the needs of the Sudanese communities According to the authors, NAPAssess has been designed to reflect stakeholder concerns and issues within the NAPA process and should be useful for use within any country undertaking a NAPA process.