GEF June Council Meeting

Highlights of Upcoming GEF Council Meeting

The next meeting of the GEF Council is scheduled to be held June 12-15, 2007 in Washington, DC. An NGO consultation will take place prior to the Council meeting, on June 11, 2007.  For more information on the upcoming Council meeting, including the Council papers, please visit the GEF Website: www.theGEF.org.

The Provisional Agenda includes:

1. Opening of the meeting

2. Election of a Chairperson

3. Adoption of the agenda

4. Statements by Executive Secretaries of the Conventions

5. Relations with Conventions and other Institutions

6. Annual Performance Report (EO)

7. Country Portfolio Evaluation: Philippines (EO)

8. Country Portfolio Evaluation: Samoa (EO)

9. Four-year rolling work plan and budget of the Evaluation office (EO)

10. STAP

11. Comparative advantages of GEF agencies

12. Proposed policy on fiduciary standards and financial accountability

13. GEF project cycle

14. Work program

15. GEF Business Plan FY08-10 and FY08 Corporate Budget

16. Focal area strategies and Strategic Programming for GEF-4

17. Results-based management framework

18. Operational guidelines for the application of the incremental cost principle

19. Other business

20. Joint summary of the Chairs

Brief Highlights of Selected Agenda Items

GEF Project Cycle (GEF/C.31/7)

In 2006, the GEF Evaluation Office conducted an evaluation of the GEF project cycle, which concluded that (a) the GEF activity cycle is neither effective, cost-efficient, nor efficient, and that the situation has grown worse over time; and (b) GEF modalities have not made full use of trends towards new forms of collaboration that serve to foster ownership and promote flexibility, efficiency, and results.

In December 2006, the GEF Council, after taking note of these conclusions, agreed that no gains would be achieved by streamlining the current project cycle at the margins. The Council requested the Secretariat, in consultation with all the GEF entities, present for Council review in June 2007 options for a new project cycle, with the objective of processing a proposal from identification to start of implementation in less than 22 months (without compromising project quality or undermining financial accountability).

The June 2007 Council will be reviewing, GEF Project Cycle (GEF/C.31/7), which proposes a new GEF project cycle that is based on Council’s guidance to the Secretariat, GEF Evaluation Office recommendations, as well as the CEO’s proposals for reforming the GEF as outlined in the five-point Sustainability Compact presented to the Council in December 2006. The proposed new GEF project cycle will establish a target for average elapsed time of 22 months from PIF approval to endorsement by the CEO. Besides reducing the number of steps in the project cycle, the revised cycle aims to reduce the documentation requirements by sharply focusing the Secretariat reviews of the PIF and the project document on those criteria that are critical to achieving the objectives for which a GEF grant is provided. Other criteria that reflect the GEF operational principles—such as sustainability, replicability, stakeholder involvement, cofinancing commitment, scientific, and technical innovation—are better and more realistically monitored during project implementation through the annual project implementation reporting and review process, as outlined in the Results-Based Management Framework. Such an approach reflects a shift from an “approval” culture to a “results-management” culture.

Focal Area Strategies and Strategic Programming for GEF-4, GEF/C.31/10

The policy recommendations for the fourth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund requested the Secretariat to review and revise as necessary the six focal area strategies, taking into account cross-cutting issues of sustainable forest management and sound chemicals management. The revised strategies were also to provide the basis for a simplified approach to the GEF’s operational programs and strategic objectives for the fourth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund.

Working drafts of focal area strategies and two additional draft papers addressing the cross-cutting issues of sustainable forest management and sound chemicals management were presented to the December 2006 Council. The Council reviewed the working drafts and requested the Secretariat to continue its work to revise the focal area strategies as they should focus on global outcomes and impacts of future GEF interventions.  They should also provide a basis for the development of measurable results indicators.  In addition, the focal area strategies should be focused on a definite set of priority issues reflecting major global environmental concerns.  As for cross-cutting issues, they should be more systematically identified, analyzed and integrated in the revised focal area strategies.

To ensure a broad and consultative process for revising the focal area strategy, the CEO established five Technical Advisory Groups (TAGs) on biodiversity, climate change, sustainable land management, international waters, and sound chemicals management, and a Strategy Advisory Group (SAG) as an overarching coordinating group.

Working drafts of the focal area strategies and minutes from the meetings of the TAGs and the SAG were posted on the GEF website throughout the process, along with the terms of reference and membership of the advisory groups. Comments on working drafts received from the GEF partners throughout the process were posted on the website. In particular, Council Members were invited to provide comments on the draft strategy papers presented to the SAG in April 2007.

The document GEF/C.31/10, Focal Area Strategies and Strategic Programming for GEF-4, will be submitted for consideration by the June 2007 Council.  In this document, the revised strategies and proposed strategic programming for GEF-4 are presented for the six focal areas of the GEF and for the two cross-cutting areas (sustainable forest management and sound chemicals management).

Results-Based Management Framework, GEF/C.31/11

The December 2006 Council requested the Secretariat to submit a results based management framework for consideration at the June 2007 meeting.  The document, Results-Based Management Framework, GEF/C.31/11, which will be reviewed by the June 2007 Council, provides an overall concept for a results-based management framework for the GEF. The paper outlines the conceptual and methodological building blocks of how the GEF as an institution intends to measure progress toward results and the associated monitoring activities that the Secretariat will undertake in collaboration with the GEF agencies.

The results based management framework for the GEF which will be implemented for GEF-4, incorporates monitoring and reporting at three levels: institutional (organization); programmatic (focal area); and project level. The framework is built on the strategic programming for GEF-4 focal area strategies and their associated indicators (GEF/C.31/10) and will be tied closely to the proposed project cycle (GEF/C.31/7).