About
GEF INTER-FOCAL REGIONAL CONSULTATIVE PROCESS WITH EXISTING AND PIPELINE GEF PROJECTS IN THE WIDER CARIBBEAN REGION
Why the need for this process?
Within the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR), the Global Environment Facility (GEF) is supporting an increasing number and diversity of regional environmental projects under its various portfolio areas. These projects are generating valuable experiences, lessons and opportunities for increased regional collaboration that will improve the effectiveness of these projects’ interventions. However, national and regional mechanisms are often lacking for the sharing of experiences and lessons from the development and implementation of GEF projects. There are concerns that as the GEF portfolio grows, projects may overlap, opportunities for synergies may be lost, antagonistic linkages may develop, and major gaps may continue to exist. Providing a forum for dialogue at the project management and technical levels will be critical as the number of projects and actors increase in the WCR.
What is being done?
To address these concerns, a project has been initiated under the GEF IW:LEARN (International Waters Learning Exchange and Resources Network: http://www.iwlearn.org) regional structured learning activities, which aims to enhance the implementation of GEF projects by building peer networks among these projects and their partners and helping GEF projects to learn from each other’s experiences and leverage synergies to enhance results and returns on GEF investments. The project will be conducted as a case study to test cross-focal area networking among GEF projects within the WCR. It will focus on facilitated e-dialogue among regional GEF projects in all the focal areas. The results will be a UNEP-IW:LEARN contribution to GEF's effort towards integration and the development of cross-focal area networking, which is now a critical component of the new GEF allocation framework.
What are the objectives?
The major objectives are to:
- Test the effectiveness of cross-focal area networking among a regional cluster of GEF projects in the WCR to promote integration of efforts, capture of synergies, identification of gaps, conflicts and missed opportunities and the sharing of experiences;
- Develop tool(s) to facilitate cross-focal networking among GEF projects in the WCR, based on needs identified during the regional dialogue;
- and Generate case studies (GEF Experience Notes) aimed at promoting enhanced cooperation among existing and pipeline GEF projects in the WCR.
How will the project be conducted?
Through its mandate under the Cartagena Convention, UNEP's Caribbean Environmental Programme (CEP) will be responsible for this activity, in collaboration with the IW Task Team (IWTT) and with the assistance of a consultant. It will consist of a regional consultative process, culminating in a regional workshop and the production of a series of experience notes and recommendations to be disseminated within the GEF and beyond.
The major activities are:
- Electronic forum discussions: An E-forum will be set up and representatives from WCR GEF projects invited to join;
- Regional Consultative Workshop: A regional workshop will be convened to analyze and discuss the results of the regional e-dialogue and the next steps;
- Preparation of tools and promotional material: Promotional material for showcasing the initiative and appropriate tool(s) will be developed to support intra-regional networking and coordination among GEF projects, and to disseminate the results.
What are the expected benefits to GEF projects from joining this regional IW:LEARN activity?
This initiative will provide a forum for participants in GEF projects to familiarize themselves with each other’s activities, to foster better coordination of efforts across the region, leverage opportunities for synergies between projects and to identify and act upon these opportunities. This consultative process will foster networking and knowledge-sharing by promoting dialogue among interested partners within the regional cluster, the production and dissemination of experience notes, and the development of appropriate tools. It will promote greater efficiency in project development and implementation, especially important in a region with limited financial and human capacity.
How can GEF projects participate in this Inter-focal Dialogue?
CEP, with guidance from the IWTT) and in partnership with GEF-IW:LEARN, will engage the GEF projects in a regional e-dialogue, to be facilitated by the consultant. Project managers, Implementing Agencies, Executing Agencies and other major stakeholders will be invited to share experiences and contribute lessons learned and to participate in the regional workshop. The success of this initiative will be dependent on the interest and contribution of all persons.
What is the next step?
In the coming weeks, key participants in GEF regional projects will be invited to participate in the regional dialogue. Information will be provided on the e-forum and mechanism for
participation. Once the e-forum is established, the facilitated dialogue will commence.
What is the timeline?
This initiative will be conducted between February and July 2009, with the regional workshop tentatively scheduled for May 2009.
Contacts
UNEP CEP: Heidi Savelli, hss@cep.unep.org
UNEP-IW:LEARN: Sean Khan, sean.khan@unep.org
Consultant: Sherry Heileman, sh_heileman@yahoo.com
