Dear Colleagues,

It is a pleasure to share with you the August issue of the newsletter of the Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). During the last few months, we consulted with many stakeholders on the approach to the Sixth Comprehensive Evaluation of the GEF (OPS6) that will inform the next replenishment negotiations of the GEF. This evaluation and its various sub-studies will occupy the office for the several coming months. The consultations identified important areas to be addressed in the evaluation including the role of the GEF in the changing landscape for environmental finance, the new focus on programmatic and integrated approaches by the GEF and the overall health of the GEF partnership. The findings of this evaluation will be ready by June 2017. The IEO will have a very busy year completing this evaluation, and we will continue to request inputs from many of you into this important exercise.

This newsletter presents the findings of our recently completed evaluations, and recent external engagements where we share the insights from our work including investments in new methodologies. Our new website is now ready and has been created to provide you not only with information about our evaluations but also to draw your attention to the data and the methodologies being used in them. We are testing out new approaches and methodologies in our ongoing evaluations such as rapid impact evaluation, as well as applying geospatial analysis more broadly. We have created new search capabilities for easy access to our reports, as well as a collaborative space to better engage with stakeholders. As is the case with all websites, this is ongoing work in progress and I would appreciate any feedback that will allow us to continue optimizing and improving its capabilities to serve you better.

To illustrate some of the work we have done since 2003 and to provide you with an overview of the ongoing Sixth Comprehensive Evaluation, here is a three-minute video.

Enjoy the rest of the summer! We will be back in touch towards the end of the year.

How relevant has the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) been in supporting adaptation to climate change?

The GEF acts as an operating entity for the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). The Fund was established in 2001 and provides support to climate change adaptation efforts of the least developed countries. The evaluation concluded that Fund-supported activities, for the most part, have been highly relevant to guidance of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); and to the countries’ development priorities. However, the unpredictable funding creates uncertainty for the implementation of the countries’ main climate change adaptation priorities.

Read more

Has the GEF had a positive effect in Morocco and Tajikistan?

Recently completed Morocco and Tajikistan Country Portfolio Evaluations focused on multiple benefits of the GEF support to partner countries. In Tajikistan, the evaluation concluded that GEF support was effective in protected areas management and biosafety legislation, while support to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) was limited. In Morocco, the GEF contributed to an enabling environment for solar energy, conservation of protected areas, prevention of deforestation, and elimination of dangerous chemicals. However, gender issues were not systematically taken into account in the country portfolio.

Tajikistan Country Portfolio Evaluation | Morocco Country Portfolio Evaluation

Geeta Batra prepared a paper on evaluation approaches adopted by the IEO to measure the impacts of GEF interventions in focal areas that are related to SDGs, which include the measurement of environmental benefits across focal areas and broad socio-economic co-benefits. Some of these approaches include mixed methods and complexity theory, incorporating assessments of quality assurance and safeguard mechanisms, mainstreaming methodologies for evaluating partnerships, private sector and civil society engagement, and establishing partnerships in evaluation. The paper was presented at the Evaluation Practice Exchange organized by the United Nations Evaluation Group in April 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Download paper

GEF’s Protected Areas Impact Evaluation presented to the Convention on Biological Diversity

On May 2nd Juha Uitto participated in the First Meetings of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation (SBI) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Montreal, Canada. This high level event created an excellent opportunity to discuss the findings of the IEO Impact Evaluation of the GEF Support to Protected Areas and Protected Ares Systems. .

Download Presentation | More about IEO Biodiversity Impact Evaluation

Mexico: Implementing Climate Change Policy Evaluation

On May 25, Juha Uitto was the keynote speaker at the Forum on Implementing Climate Change Policy Evaluation convened by the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change in Mexico. In his speech, Juha outlined progress and challenges in evaluation of environmental and climate change policies. He emphasized the need to address climate change from a holistic perspective focusing on the effectiveness of policy implementation and using rigorous evaluation methodologies, and solid theories of change.

Read Key Note Address | Forum Press Release