 |
April 2007 |
 |
A Fresh Start: GEF Reform and GEF-NGO Revitalization “We have to put an end to too-slow response to global environmental concerns complicated by long delays in disbursing funds, long lists of sometimes-questionable projects in an unaccountable pipeline, complex structures, arcane requirements, and supply-driven portfolios,” stated Monique Barbut, GEF Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson at the GEF-NGO Consultation and Council Meeting, held in Washington, DC, December 4–8, 2006. This was Ms. Barbut’s first Consultation Meeting since taking over the helm in July 2006. At the meeting she outlined her vision and strategy for a “GEF with soul,” one built on five key elements: strategy, innovation, equity, accessibility, and focus. She emphasized that one of her top priorities is to “break apart the complex web of bureaucracy” in the GEF. Other suggested changes include reducing the project cycle period from 66 months to 22 months, long-term partnerships with the private sector and academia, and a bigger role for NGOs and the GEF NGO Network members. Delegates echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that after 15 years of “business as usual,” the GEF was now ripe for change. Lucy Mulenkei, Indigenous Information Network (Kenya) urged the Council to treat the NGO Network and indigenous peoples as partners and acknowledge them as important actors and contributors. The meeting was divided into presentations by GEF Secretariat, Evaluation Office, and Network members, plenary discussions, and a question and answer session with Ms. Barbut. Dorothy Manuel, Executive Director of ZERO Regional Environment Organization and Central Focal Point for the GEF NGO Network, and Alaa Sarhan, Senior Institutional Officer/NGO Coordinator, Corporate Affairs of the GEF Secretariat co-chaired the Consultation. Dorothy Manuel emphasized that the meeting should be regarded as “a fresh start” for a reinvigorated and vibrant GEF. She noted the importance of adaptation as a cross-cutting issue and the need for GEF more generally to embrace cross-cutting issues. A major breakthrough highlighted in the NGO Consultation Meeting was the long overdue recognition in the Instrument of the GEF as a financial mechanism of the UNCCD, which received unanimous support from African countries. In plenary, while many Council members expressed confidence in the Evaluation Office’s capability to independently undertake Fourth Overall Performance Study (OPS4), concerns were expressed about potential conflicts of interest, the potentially weakened perception of independence from the GEF, and the impact that implementing OPS4 would have on regular Evaluation activities. Other issues raised in plenary include
A number of Council members noted the importance of extensive stakeholder consultations in the preparation of the mid-term review of the RAF and recommended that such consultations include dialogue with representatives of the Parties who participate in the deliberations of the Conventions. In a statement, the GEF NGO Network endorsed the restructuring of the GEF, but emphasized that this process could not succeed in the absence of “greater transparency, clarity of structure, and group ownership of the processes and systems defined.” “Without these, restructuring will not deliver the desired benefits for the global environment at the center of which is the people,” stated the NGO Network at the end of the meeting.
|
|
