In 2011, the Evaluation Office of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) conducted two country portfolio studies in El Salvador and Jamaica. Both studies were performed in collaboration with parallel evaluations by the United Nations Development Programme's Evaluation Office. Country portfolio studies are a new instrument for the GEF country-level evaluation work. As collaborative efforts, they enable more informed evaluation reporting, a lower evaluation burden on the countries, and cost savings. This annual country portfolio evaluation report summarizes the conclusions and recommendations deriving from these studies.
Both countries achieved good results in terms of the positive contribution of GEF support to global environmental benefits in all GEF focal areas; however, prospects for sustainability as well as for scaling up the initial benefits achieved are mixed. GEF support contributed significantly to developing capacity in the two countries. GEF support has also been relevant to national environmental goals and priorities, as well as to the countries' efforts to fulfill their obligations under the international agreements to which they are signatories. Finally, efficiency of project preparation has improved recently in El Salvador and Jamaica, even through GEF projects tend to experience delays during implementation.
Follow-up
The GEF Council has asked the GEF Evaluation Office to continue developing and implementing such joint initiatives with GEF Agencies and with independent national institutions with recognized expertise in both evaluation and the environment.