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I. Highlights of November Council Meeting The last GEF Council Meeting was held November 17-19, 2005, in Washington, DC. The following are highlights of the meeting. Council Approves Funding for Enhanced Management Information System The Council approved $700,000 to establish a management information system to enable the GEF Secretariat and its partners to improve the effectiveness of the Secretariat’s project and information database. Proposed Elements of Biosafety Strategy The Council reviewed the document, GEF/C.27/12, Elements for a GEF Biosafety Strategy, which identified the basic elements of a GEF Strategy for providing assistance to support the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety In consultation with the Implementing Agencies and Executing Agencies, the GEF Secretariat will develop a draft biosafety strategy for Council review and comment prior to the June 2006 meeting. The new strategy will take into consideration the outcomes of the Conference of Parties in March 2006. South Africa to Host Third GEF Assembly The Government of South Africa has generously offered to host the Third GEF Assembly August 29–30, 2006, and the Secretariat has begun preparations for the assembly and related meetings. More information on the Third GEF Assembly is available on the GEF website. You may also contact the GEF Secretariat: assembly@thegef.org, for queries related to the Third GEF Assembly. Council Approves Country Support Programme for Focal Points The Council approved the Country Support Program (CSP) for Focal Points—a new comprehensive capacity building program to support GEF focal points in carrying out their global environmental responsibilities. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will implement the corporate program, working in close collaboration with the GEF Secretariat. The CSP seeks to help countries respond to their obligations as GEF recipient countries as well as obligations contained within the biodiversity, climate change, desertification, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) global conventions. As an overall capacity building project, the CSP will provide support to GEF focal points for activities related to training, outreach, and information sharing, and strengthening country-level coordination to promote genuine country ownership of GEF-financed activities, and facilitating active involvement of recipient countries and interested government and civil society stakeholders. The program represents an evolving approach to coordinating ongoing country support activities within the GEF. For more information on the CSP, please visit the website: thegef.org. For the meeting agenda and a full summary of the Council Meeting please visit the GEF website at www.thegef.org. |
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