Improving G-PAS Outcomes in Pacific SIDS by taking a harmonizing approach

NB: Congratulations to all the G-PAS players for orchestrating such a wonderful programmatic approach to delivering the best possible outcomes for the Pacific Island Countries' delicate and vulnerable environments and cultures.

We hear today, in Bali, (4th Dec) the initial outcomes of these deliberations - as spelt-out below.

Manuia le fono and have a great meeting.




Dear Sir,
We thank you for conducting a stakeholder consultation in your country to identify the priority activities for inclusion in the GEF Pacific Alliance for Sustainability. A detailed assessment of the identified priorities has been completed by the GEF Secretariat in consultation with the GEF agencies on your submission and the following concepts were considered eligible for further development.
There were several concepts that were common to many countries and these are being put together as multi-country projects to be handled by a single GEF agency to ensure quality technical assistance and service to you. We want to stress here that these multi-country projects will vastly differ in approach from standard regional projects implemented in the past. The proposed multi-country projects will mainly consist of nationally executed activities with the added component of sharing expertise and information between countries on the same subject. Your Government would have similar control over the national project activities similar to a stand-alone country project funded by the GEF.
1. Terrestrial/Forestry Protected Area Management ? Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and Niue. Lead GEF Agency: UNDP (and World Bank)
2. Invasive Species Management ? Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Cook Island, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Niue Lead GEF Agency: UNEP
3. Building resilience to climate change (Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change) ? Cook Islands, Fiji, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu. Lead GEF Agency: UNDP (World Bank, UNEP)
4. NAPA Implementation - Timor Leste, Tuvalu, Solomon Island, Kiribati, Samoa, Vanuatu and Timor Leste ?A follow up project from NAPAs, as determined by the country. LDCF (Least Developed Countries Fund). GEF Agency: UNDP and UNEP
5. Energy efficiency program - Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands. Energy Efficiency focusing on electricity end uses (demand side management), appliance labeling, and technology transfer is a good idea. Improved energy efficiency of buildings (e.g. Government buildings, tourism.), Enhanced Institutional and technical capabilities to implement energy efficiency. . There is the possibility of formulating a good regional energy efficiency project here, if countries agree. Other countries might choose to participate as well. Lead GEF Agency: Asian Development Bank
6.Integrated Water Resources Management/Water Supply Protection. GEF Agency:UNDP and UNEP
7.Integrated solid and hazardous waste and POPs management - Cook Islands, FSM, Marshall Islands, PNG, Samoa, Tuvalu, Palau, Tonga (the latter two countries only if they ratify the Stockholm Convention). This regional project with specific country-level interventions would address the requests of the countries wishing to work on NIP implementation and/or waste management, and would support the recently adopted Pacific Strategy for Waste Management. Others might wish to join in this effort when they are made aware of it. This concept would have to be much developed before writing a PIF. Lead GEF Agency: Asian Development Bank (in collaboration with SPREP and the Basel regional centre for the Pacific).
8. GEF-UNDP Targeted Portfolio Project on Capacity Building and Mainstreaming of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The umbrella program was CEO endorsed in September 2004 and approval for individual country projects (Medium SizedProjects) do not require further approval from the GEF. The program aims at developing individual, institutional and systemic capacity for sustainable land management in these countries. GEF funding is available to LDCs and SIDS for targeted capacity building through individual MSPs.
You may contact the indicated lead GEF agency to assist you in the development of the Project Identification Form (PIF) matching the resources available to your country within the Resource Allocation Framework, where applicable. In addition, please feel free to use the Small Grants program modality for helping in delivering any of the above mentioned projects outcomes in the country.
We hope that this programmatic approach will help reduce your time and costs while protecting the environment. The objective to shift towards this programmatic approach was mainly as a result of past problems in achieving sustainable outcomes through piecemeal, fragmented and uncoordinated projects in the region.
The GEF coordinating agency (World Bank) is developing a monitoring and evaluation framework for the overall program reducing the stress of project by project evaluations. Such measurement of the performance of GEF-PAS will determine if initial assumptions on benefits to the countries, global environment and cost/benefit savings are correct and sustainable. Each project would establish an evaluation strategy to ensure quality assurance within the program in relation to global environmental and national development benefits and capacity development.
Please advise us if you need further information or clarification on the above list and we would respond as soon as possible. We will also be available to respond to your questions at a meeting of the Pacific countries being held on December 4, 2007 in Bali.
Regards,
Ravi SharmaSenior Operational OfficerProgram Manager (Pacific SIDS)Global Environment Facility1818H Street NWWashington DC 20433USA