GEF National Dialogue Initiative

The GEF National Dialogue Initiative aims to strengthen country ownership and involvement in GEF co-financed projects, as well as to build capacity of GEF national focal points through a multi-stakeholder dialogue process. National Dialogues on the GEF bring together key stakeholders representing a wide variety of national and local interests in sustainable development. The dialogues provide unique fora that facilitate the link between formal, professional knowledge and informal, local knowledge to address national GEF-related issues.

The Dialogue Initiative was developed to serve as one of the tools in response to the recommendations of the Second GEF Assembly, the Third Replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund and the Second Overall Performance Study of the GEF concerning strengthened country involvement, ownership and capacity building for national focal points. It also builds upon lessons learned from the GEF Country Dialogue Workshops (CDW) Programme. The Dialogue Initiative is being organized over a four-year period as a collaborative process between the GEF national focal points, the GEF Secretariat and the Implementing Agencies. It is being implemented by UNDP based on strategic guidance provided by the GEF Secretariat.

The main objectives of the GEF Dialogue Initiative are to assist participating countries by:

• Promoting in-depth understanding of the GEF’s strategic directions, policies and procedures
• Strengthening country coordination and ownership in GEF operations and sharing lessons learned from project implementation
• Fostering greater mainstreaming of GEF activities into national planning frameworks and coordination and synergies amongst the GEF focal areas and convention issues at the national level.

To achieve these objectives, national and sub-regional policy level dialogues and consultations are being organized as a collaborative process between the GEF national focal points, the GEF Secretariat and the GEF Implementing Agencies.

To know more about the Initiative and how countries can apply to host a GEF National Dialogue, visit the GEF National Dialogue Initiative website.