Highlights and images for 26 October 2016

United States of America

Summary

The second day of the 51st meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Council began with a discussion on monitoring agency compliance with GEF policies on environmental and social safeguards, gender, and fiduciary standards. The Council deferred the final decision on the issue until Thursday.

During the morning, the Council also discussed the Semi-Annual Evaluation Report October 2016 and management response to the report. Council members considered two completed evaluation reports: ‘International Waters Focal Area Study’ and ‘Value for Money Analysis for the Land Degradation Projects of the GEF.’ Juha Uitto, Director, Independent Evaluation Office (IEO), outlined the IEO’s ongoing evaluations, including: ‘GEF Engagement with the Private Sector,’ ‘Chemicals and Waste Focal Area Study,’ and ‘GEF Role in Supporting Legal and Regulatory Reform in Countries,’ as well as work on recently started or upcoming evaluations.

At the beginning of their afternoon deliberations, the Council discussed relations with the conventions and other international institutions, and memoranda of understanding with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The Council heard presentations by the Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, and the Principal Coordinator of the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, as well as interventions from representatives of the Secretariats of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UNCCD, relating to GEF activities in support of their respective multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs).

The Council concluded the day with a discussion of recommendations from the Working Group on Public Involvement. The final decision on the issue was deferred until Thursday.

IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, has provided daily web coverage from the GEF Council Consultation Meeting with CSOs, 51st GEF Council Meeting and 21st Meeting of the LDCF/SCCF Council. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has published a summary report in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Francis Dejon
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William Ehlers, GEF Council Secretary; Co-Chair Carlos Raul Delgado, Mexico; and Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson

L-R: Herbert Acquay and Roland Sundstrom, GEF Secretariat

Leonardo Martinez-Diaz, US


Samuel Germain
, Germany


Claudia Mordini
, Italy

Legborsi Saro Pyagbara, Indigenous Peoples Focal Point, Africa,
on behalf of the GEF-CSO Network


Josceline Wheatley, UK


Subhash Chandra Garg, India

Presentation of the ‘Semi-Annual Evaluation Report of the Independent Evaluation Office’

L-R: Geeta Batra and Juha Uitto, IEO

View of the IEO presentation on the ongoing Evaluation of Programmatic Approaches in the GEF
and the Integrated Approach Pilots

Nuritdin Inamov, Russian Federation


Aida Ghebre Selasie
, Norway


Abdul Bakarr Salim
, Sierra Leone

Cristina Kamia, Angola


Alix Thepot, France


Judith Gelbman, Canada


Jacob Duer, Principal Coordinator, Interim Secretariat of the
Minamata Convention on Mercury


Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions


Jozef Buys
, Belgium


Greg Filyk
, Canada

Javad Momeni, Iran

L-R: Stefan Marco Schwager, Switzerland, and Carlos Rodríguez Brianza, Uruguay


Alejandro Kilpatrick, UNFCCC Secretariat


Amy Ann Fraenkel
, CBD Secretariat

Melchiade Bukuru, UNCCD Secretariat


Mitsutoshi Kajikawa, Japan


Caryn McClelland
, US

María Szephegyi, Vida Silvestre Uruguay, on behalf of the GEF-CSO Network

Naoko Ishii, GEF CEO and Chairperson