The Global Environment Facility is a partnership for international cooperation where 183 countries work together with international institutions, civil society organizations and the private sector, to address global environmental issues. Since 1991, the GEF has provided US$12.5 billion in grants and leveraged US$58 billion in co-financing for 3,690 projects in 165 developing countries. For 23 years, developed and developing countries alike have provided these funds to support activities related to biodiversity conservation, mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, sustainable management of international waters, halting land degradation, and management of chemicals and waste in the context of development projects and programs.

Credible and sound evaluation forms a central aspect of the Facility. The Independent Evaluation Office conducts evaluations of GEF operations gauging the results and impact for accountability, learning, and knowledge creation and sharing. The findings and conclusions from evaluations help shape the future operations of the GEF. The purpose of this seminar was to present the GEF work in light of what evaluations reveal and to solicit further partnerships with agencies, civil society and private sector in Japan.

Documents

• ENHANCING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS THROUGH INDEPENDENCE AND PARTNERSHIP IN EVALUATION: World Bank Group and Global Environment Facility Seminar (PPT)
• FIFTH OVERALL PERFORMANCE STUDY OF THE GEF
  Final Report (PDF) | Summary (PDF)
  
• The GEF Monitoring and Evaluation Policy (PDF)
  
• Climate-Eval

Presentation

Dr. Juha I. Uitto is the Director of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office. He has worked for 30 years in international environment and development with UN agencies, in academia and as consultant. Dr. Uitto has held leading positions in development evaluation for more than 15 years.

He also serves as advisor to Kyoto University’s Inter-Graduate School Program for Sustainable Development and Survivable Societies and as Visiting Professor in the Division for Global Affairs at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.