Country Portfolio Evaluations

Even though the GEF has been in existence for over a decade, no assessment has ever been conducted of a GEF portfolio using the country level as a basis for analysis until recently. The GEF Country Portfolio Evaluations, conducted by the GEF Evaluation Office, should provide useful feedback on how the GEF works at the country level.

The Office conducted the first GEF Country Portfolio Evaluation as a pilot during FY 2006 (Costa Rica). Based on this experience, the Office has developed Standard Terms of Reference for Country Portfolio Evaluations with the following three objectives:

• To independently evaluate the relevance and efficiency of GEF support in a country from several points of view: national environmental frameworks and decision-making processes, the GEF mandate, the achievement of global environmental benefits, and GEF policies and procedures
• To assess the results and effectiveness of completed projects aggregated at the focal areas
• To provide feedback and knowledge sharing to the GEF Council in its decision making on resource allocation and policy and strategy development, to the country on its participation in the GEF, and the different agencies and organizations involved in the preparation and implementation of GEF-funded projects and activities.

A country selection criteria for the next five years has been developed with the following principles:

• Clarity and transparency of selection process
• Fair chance for all GEF recipient countries to be selected
• Programmatic criteria – using the seven criteria developed and used by the Evaluation Office to program its activities (policy relevance, financial weight, stakeholder opinion and demand, public and/or media debate, evaluation coverage, evaluability and international collaboration (synergy)
• Synergy with other evaluations conducted in the Evaluation Office or by the evaluation offices of the Implementing and Executing Agencies.

Full detail is presented on the Note on the Selection Criteria for the GEF Country Portfolio Evaluation. In Fiscal Year 2007, two countries from Asia have been selected: Philippines and Samoa.