This is the first strategic country cluster evaluation(SCCE) in the Lower Mekong River Basin (LMRB) conducted by the IEO to understand the impact of the GEF’s support in addressing the challenges related to land degradation, hydrological connectivity, climate impacts, and biodiversity losses across the LMRB. It also examines how the GEF contributed to building social, economic, and ecosystem resilience in the LMRB and sustaining good practices and other outcomes.
The evaluation’s conceptual and analytical framework focuses on how the GEF has contributed toward transformative changes and socioecological resilience across rural landscapes within the diverse hydrological networks connecting Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Viet Nam. The evaluation used a mixed-methods approach, drawing on a combination of evidence from 28 completed and ongoing projects, and primary data collection and field visits to assess the extent to which (a) GEF support at the country and regional levels has delivered on outcomes and impacts over time; (b) country-level programs and projects are aligned and consistent with the broader regional objectives over time; and (c) GEF agencies and executing partners have generated and used data, evidence, and learning in development and continuous improvement of various projects supported by the GEF. The findings provide evidence-based knowledge and good practices to help guide more coherent policy instruments, institutional arrangements, and decision-making tools that explicitly recognize the interdependency between human well-being and the resilient ecosystems that underpin human development.
The GEF Council is the primary audience for this evaluation. The evaluation's evidence can also inform GEF Agencies' proposal development and GEF Secretariat's appraisal of project proposals. Country- and non-governmental partners engaged in project and program design and implementation form the secondary audience.