First National Coordination
Meeting
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GEF National Coordination Meeting
7 September 2000 |
In the context of the UNDP provision of
support to strengthen the national coordination activities of the GEF
Operational Focal Point, a GEF National Coordination meeting was held on the
7th of September 2000 at the Lebanese Ministry of Environment in Antelias.
 The meeting, which was attended by more than 50
participants, aimed at introducing and familiarizing the national stakeholders
with the GEF concepts and mechanisms, the GEF Programme in Lebanon, the GEF
Operational Programme and Project cycle and the GEF Small Grant Programme which
was recently approved for Lebanon.
The meeting was opened by the UNDP
Resident Representative, Mr. Yves de San, and Ms. Nancy Khoury, one of the GEF
Operational Focal Points at the Ministry of Environment and the person in
charge of the Public relations and External Affairs.
As per the
enclosed agenda, the meeting was divided into two sessions, the morning was
more of an introductory session and the second one was more operational and
detailed.
Ms. Dima Al-Khatib, the UNDP Environment Programme Manager,
introduced the GEF Concepts and Mechanisms (Arabic
 presentation) highlighting
the GEF mechanism of work, the GEF focal areas, the funding opportunities, the
eligibility criteria and the incremental cost concept.
Ms. Nancy
Khoury, the GEF Operational Focal Point, exposed the GEF
Programme in Lebanon (Arabic
presentation), the
completed, on-going and pipeline projects. She emphasized the objectives,
partners, funding sources and executing agency for each project.
Mr.
Hani Daraghma, the UNDP/GEF/RBAS Biodiversity Specialist, presented to the
participants the UNDP/GEF Project Cycle and
Operational Programmes . He gave a step-by-step presentation on how to
develop a project, the basic requirements of eligibility, the different
operational programme under each focal area, the different project development
facilities and the GEF monitoring and evaluation procedures.
Mr. Munir
Al-Adgham, National Small Grant Programme Coordinator in Jordan, gave an
overview of the Global Small Grant Programme and
shared with the participants the Small Grant Programme experience in Jordan.
Both sessions were chaired and facilitated by Mr. Berj Hatjian, the
Director General of the Ministry of Environment and GEF operational Focal
point. Each session was followed by open floor discussions with the
participants.
The participants in the meeting were representatives of
Government and Non-Governmental Organizations as well as academic and private
sector. The participants were very keen to learn more about GEF and modalities
of applying GEF projects in the country.
A package of relevant
documentation was distributed to all participants and a draft UNDP/GEF web site
was also presented.
Recommendations:
It is highly
recommended to hold a GEF Country Dialogue Workshop whereby GEF issues can be
discussed into more details.
The UNDP/GEF web site, as part of UNDP
support to Operational Focal Point, need to be launched soon to ensure the
maximum outreach of information related to GEF Programme in Lebanon as well as
national partners and the global programme.
Initiation of the GEF Small
Grant Programme activities in Lebanon
Enhanced coordination by the
Operational Focal Point, with the support of UNDP, to ensure complementarity
among national activities and avoid duplication of efforts.
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