GEF-PAS Prepares Pacific Investment Portfolio

Dear GEF PAS partners,

Again thank you very much for all your contributions in Apia. The Bank values your cooperation and assistance to fulfill its mandate to lead preparation and implementation of the Pacific Alliance for Sustainability.

The understanding at the meeting was that the Bank would share, in the very short-term, the next steps with all stakeholders, as well as the TORs and the names of the consultants who will assist countries to provide the information required to prepare the GEF-PAS investment portfolio. This information is attached and is also available at http://www.gefcountrysupport.org/report_detail.cfm?projectId=207

I will also share the itineraries of the consultants as soon as these have been agreed by the countries.

As agreed at the meeting, we are contacting the Forum Secretariat to formally request their participation as we move forward to prepare the program. Their participation will help ensure that we take into account the regional and sub-regional initiatives that complement the national activities.

We are planning to call for an audio/video conference meeting with all stakeholders in the next week or so. We will be sending you an email next week with a choice of 3 dates. The most convenient one would be selected for the meeting, so please kindly respond to our email.

The Bank will also shortly share with you some draft criteria for project selection; these will be based mainly on the criteria included in the draft Framework. Once we receive your comments, we would develop these more concretely. The criteria will link in to the Monitoring and Evaluation indicators that will be used to assess progress with implementation of the investment portfolio. Please note that projects under the framework will be expected to also develop their own M&E systems and indicators. We will circulate a concept for the M&E strategy before we develop it in detail, in order to ensure that any concerns you might have will be addressed appropriately.

We trust that the information we are providing meets your current needs. Please feel free to send us your comments and suggestions, so that our next communication can reflect and respond to any concerns you might have.

This message will have attached to it the following documents:

Ø Next steps
Ø TORs for the consultants
Ø Grouping of countries and the respective consultants

I would like to end this mail with a request. To help us keep a manageable mailing list, may I please request that where there are more than two people from the same organization on the mailing list you let us which two people to maintain on the list. The idea then is that these two people would send the mail to a wider distribution list within their respective organization.

With kind regards,
Next Steps

GEF PAS Update on Key Next Steps in Project Preparation

Activity
Key Players
Timeline
Consultations with potential co-financiers
GEF Agencies, countries. Bi-lateral agencies, NGOs, private sector
Early October
Countries complete consultations and identification of priorities (national, sub-regional and regional) assisted by consultants
Countries, ‘CROP’ agencies
October 15
Parallel consultations with CROP and GEF agencies
The World Bank, with coordination by ForSec and with assistance provided by Joe Stanley
October
Establish GEF-PAS Working Group
ForSec and GEF-PAS Inter Agency Working Group
October
GEF-PAS website

The World Bank: We are investigating options: through UNDP who already have a site; or within the Bank. We will also be reviewing to ensure that we have a discussion space for the project.
October
Consultations with potential co-financiers
GEF Agencies, countries. Bi-lateral agencies, NGOs, private sector
September - January
Compilation and synthesis of priorities
GEF-PAS Working Group
October 15 - 22
Constituency Meeting in Manila (feedback on consultations)
Countries, GEF Agencies
October 24-25
Finalization of draft investment matrices
Countries with GEF-PAS Working Group
By end October
Distribute draft investment portfolio to countries, CROP and GEF agencies, donors and other stakeholders,
The World Bank
End October
Prepare overall program document
The World Bank
Begin October, draft distributed by December 15
GEF Agencies work with countries to prepare PIFs (for national, sub-regional and regional projects)
Countries, GEF Agencies, CROP Agencies
November to December 15
Countries and Agencies meet in Bali to review progress; organized by GEF Sec
Countries, GEF Agencies, CROP Agencies, Bi-lateral Agencies, NGOs
Early December
Circulation of draft PIFs
GEF Agencies
By December 15
Finalization of PIFs
Countries and GEF Agencies
By end January
Countries and Agencies meet to finalize/endorse submission to GEF Secretariat (venue to be decided) Organized by World Bank
Countries, GEF Agencies, CROP Agencies
End January
Finalization of the documents to be submitted to GEFSec
GEF-PAS Working Group
Early February
Submission to GEF Sec
World Bank
By February 29

Primary contact for information at the World Bank: Ms. Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, Tel. +1 202 458178;
Fax 1 202 477-2733 email: Ipswarayiriddiho@worldbank.org

Please copy all correspondence to Mr. Samuel Wedderburn, Tel. 202 473 0443 Fax 202 522 3256;
Email: Swedderburn@worldbank.org

Member of the GEF Inter Agency Group based in the Pacific: Keneti Faulalo
Email: keneti.faulalo@unep.ch
GEF Pacific Alliance for Sustainability
(GEF-PAS)

Terms of Reference: Regional Consultants

Each consultant will contribute, individually and collectively, to country-driven, regionally-coordinated preparations of a program that will help ensure achievement of both global environmental and national sustainable development goals in the Pacific region. The focus will be on maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of GEF support to, and investment in, the 15 PICs eligible for such assistance. Specifically, the consultants will adhere to the following principles:

§ Build on, rather than duplicate consultations already undertaken at national and regional levels;
§ Use culturally and socially appropriate participatory methods, and ensure that the views of all relevant stakeholders are canvassed, and reflected in the consensus views which will be documented in a written report;
§ Synthesize and add value to the existing body of knowledge and understanding, rather than attempting to create fundamentally new information; and
§ Prepare documentation that ensures an appropriate level of understanding at higher levels, and thus informs decision making by regional and international organizations.

Four regional consultants will work with the Operational and Political Focal Points, as appropriate, to assist each country in the respective sub-region (Table 1) to identify, rank and cost nationally that will contribute to achievement of national sustainable development goals as well as achievement of global environmental goals as reflected in the GEF Focal Area Strategies and Strategic Programming for GEF-4. Each country has also been requested to identify and rank regionally executed projects.
Table 1: Country Groupings for National Assistance
Sub-region
Country
Assistance Level
1
Cook Islands
2
Tonga
2
Samoa
1
Niue
2
2
Federated States of Micronesia
3
Marshall Islands
2
Palau
No assistance required
3
Papua New Guinea
3
Timor Leste
3
Vanuatu
2
4
Kiribati
2
Tuvalu
2
Nauru
2
Solomon Islands
2
Fiji Islands
2

The amount of assistance provided by a regional consultant to a given country will vary according the progress that country has made towards the completion the identification, ranking and costing of the nationally and regionally executed projects. The following might be used as guidance:

Assistance Level 1 – the country has already conducted appropriate consultations designed to identify and rank the proposed projects but may benefit from assistance related to the provision of information on project rankings and costs and to identification of the preferred GEF Agency. The country may also benefit from assistance and guidance on facilitating the involvement of the private sector and NGOs in the proposed projects [2 – 3 days in-country];

Assistance Level 2 – the country has already conducted limited consultations designed to identify and rank the proposed projects but may benefit from assistance to conduct further consultations related to the provision of information on project rankings and costs and to identification of the preferred GEF Agency. The country may also require significant assistance and guidance on facilitating the involvement of the private sector and NGOs in the proposed projects [3 – 4 days in-country];

Assistance Level 3 – the country has yet to conduct appropriate consultations designed to identify and rank the proposed projects and thus requires substantial assistance related to the provision of information on project rankings and costs and to identification of the preferred GEF Agency. The country would also benefit from assistance and guidance on facilitating the involvement of the private sector and NGOs in the proposed projects [5 or more days in-country];

Specifically, the regional consultant will assist each country to determine and describe the national consensus with respect to the following:

§ Priorities for proposed nationally executed investment projects and related activities that will contribute to the achievement of both national sustainable development goals and global environmental goals as reflected in the GEF Focal Area Strategies and Strategic Programming for GEF-4;
§ Initiatives that will ensure effective and efficient involvement of the private sector and civil society in the proposed investment projects and related activities;
§ Requirements and modalities for capacity building, enabling activities, and support to both civil society and the private sector in order to ensure their full and productive involvement in investment projects and related initiatives; and
§ Assess and report on the capacity in terms of readiness to undertake the proposed investment project in the near term or in the longer term once the absorptive capacity is strengthened, and the capacity building that is required, if any.

The regional consultants will also take the opportunity of their presence in country to brief relevant stakeholders on the GEF-PAS initiative. This awareness raising should make use of materials provided by the World Bank, including a generic PowerPoint presentation on GEF-PAS.

Outputs:

The regional consultants will assist countries to complete and submit templates[1] designed to describe and prioritize the national and regional projects each country considers worthy of inclusion in GEF-PAS.

Each regional consultant will also submit a brief written report on:

§ the processes used by each country to determine the proposed enabling activities, capacity building and investment initiatives that address the national priorities and are eligible for funding by the GEF; and
§ the awareness raising activities undertaken in each country.

The completed templates, supplementary information and a draft report will be submitted to a designated World Bank staff member by October 15, 2007. The final report will be submitted by October 31, 2007.

Estimated Input:

The estimated input by each regional consultant is up to 25 person-days between September 20 and October 31, 2007. In-country activities would need to be completed by October 15, at the latest. One or two of the available days should be reserved for finalization of the written report, upon receipt of comments from stakeholders. The submission of comments to each regional consultant will be coordinated by the World Bank.
[1] See Annex 1.[to be appended]