This report presents the findings and recommendations of the cluster portfolio evaluation of Global Environment Facility (GEF) support to six member countries of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS): Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The evaluation was carried out in 2011 by the GEF Evaluation Office. To date, the six countries have received approximately $12.32 million in GEF funding and $10 million in co-financing, which has supported 42 national projects and 17 regional projects. The countries have also received $1.6 million for 57 projects under the Small Grants Programme (SGP).
Conclusions
- GEF support has produced mixed results.
- Regional approaches are appropriate for the OECS but have not incorporated national level activities successfully and so up-scaling and replication have been limited.
- GEF support has expanded in scope but long-term sustainability has not been achieved except in adaptation activities.
- Institutional and individual capacity for environmental management remains a critical issue.
- GEF support has been relevant to national environmental policies but regional approaches have diluted this at times.
- GEF support has been relevant to global environmental benefits in the region and to GEF operation policies, strategies and procedures.
- On average, time taken to approve projects takes longer in the OECS region.
- Inadequate communication and coordination among different levels of the GEF partnership.
- Implementation arrangements for regional approaches poorly designed and not fully supported.
- GEF support had leveraged increasing levels of co-financing resources.
- The SGP program presents opportunities but needs to be properly managed.
- Better tracking of impacts needed in terms of monitoring & evaluation at project-level.
Recommendations
- To the GEF Council:
- Design and implementation of future regional projects should be participatory, stakeholder-driven, and include on-the-ground activities and adequate coordination resources;
- OECS countries should be supported in efforts to increase the scope of their national projects with STAR allocations, but only where cost-effectiveness and risk-assessments allow;
- GEF support should pay attention to capacity of civil society, institutions and systems.
- To national governments: Where public sector environmental agencies have weak capacity, need to explore ways of ensuring stronger national civil society engagement.
- To the Small Grants Programe (SGP) steering committee: Resources should be allocated to ensure smooth transition of SGP from sub-regional to nationally-based programs.
The GEF Council reviewed the evaluation as a part of the Annual Country Portfolio Evaluation report 2012 (ACPER 2012) and requested the Secretariat to:
- Consider ways of making project approval and implementation more flexible and context-specific in small island developing states.
- Reduce the burden of monitoring requirements of multifocal area projects to a level comparable to that of single focal area projects.
- Enable South-South cooperation activities as components of national, regional and/or Global projects where opportunities for exchange of technology, capacity development and/or sharing of best practices exist.