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Third GEF Assembly – A Photo Montage
The Third GEF Assembly was held in historic Cape Town, the “Mother City” of South Africa. The Government of South Africa, the Provincial Government, Ministry of Finance, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism were wonderful hosts of the Assembly.
The Assembly was chaired by His Excellency, Trevor Manuel, Minister of Finance for the Republic of South Africa. The Vice-Chairs were Anne Stenhammer, State Secretary, Norway, and Roberto Dobles Mora, Minister of Environment, Costa Rica. The Assembly was gaveled to a close on August 30, 2006.
Read Chairman’s summary
Photo 1
H.E. Ms. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Deputy President, delivered the opening address to a packed auditorium at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Her main message: Environmental issues are people issues. She urged participants to “demystify the issues of environment,” and do all that they can to “show that ordinary people, particularly the rural poor, have a role to play in ensuring that our environment is protected and to promote good practices when it comes to environmental issues.”
Photo 2
H.E. Tasneem Essop, H.E. Trevor Manuel, H.E. Ebrahim Rasool, the Deputy President and Monique Barbut, GEF CEO at the opening ceremony.
Photo 3
The VIPs played a “Limpopo River Game” with children from the Cape Town Area. Basically, an awareness-raising game, it allows children (and adults!) to acquire greater knowledge about flooding and helps communities to better cope with the ravages of floods that affect the entire southern African region.
Photo 4
A colorful cultural program was the highlight of the opening ceremony.
Photo 5
The Third GEF Assembly provided an excellent opportunity to raise awareness of key global environmental challenges and the need for concerted actions to address them. GEF and its partners set up over 30 booths, packed with information for the benefit of Assembly participants.
Photo 5a
Monique Barbut, GEF CEO paid a visit to the booths (seen here
with Dr. Xie Fie in front of the China Booth.)
Photo 6
Cape Town is home to the famed “fynbos biome,” and the wonderful flowers of the protea family.
Photo 7
Over 150 volunteers from South Africa were the lifeline of the Assembly, accomplishing myriad tasks, and making Assembly participants feel right at home. In the press of things, as the Assembly closed and everybody heaved a sigh of relief, there was time for one quick ‘unscripted’ group photo with Monique Barbut, GEF CEO.
Photo 8
Media interest in the Third GEF Assembly was high, and the various events received wide coverage in print, broadcast, and online media. At the closing press conference, over 30 journalists were briefed. The press conference was chaired by H.E. Trevor Manuel, Minister of Finance, South Africa (L to R: Frank Pinto, UNDP; Steen Jorgensen, World Bank; Achim Steiner, UNEP; Monique Barbut, GEF; Minister Manuel; H.E. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environment, South Africa, and Nick Nuttal, UNEP).
“Talking Points” acknowledges photo contributions from Bruce Sutherland.
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