Strengthening Evaluations within the GEF Partnership

The GEF Independent Evaluation Office (GEF IEO), in partnership with the FAO-GEF Unit and the FAO Office of Evaluation, held its first-ever, partnership-wide Evaluation workshop in the GEF’s three-decade history. The workshop focused on advancing shared evaluation priorities, exchanging best practices, and aligning efforts to better capture impact from GEF-funded projects and programs. 

Hosted at FAO’s headquarters in Rome from 1-2 October, the workshop brought together a diverse group of monitoring and evaluation professionals from GEF’s 18 partner agencies.

Clemencia Cosentino, Director of FAO’s Office of Evaluations, welcomed the participants and appreciated GEF IEO’s effort in bringing all agencies together to advance shared evaluation priorities. “We are all in this journey together. We can all help each other grow and become more effective in leveraging evaluation to promote our shared goals.”

In her opening remarks to the diverse group, Ms. Geeta Batra, Director of GEF IEO, urged participants "to share the challenges and lessons learned from conducting GEF program and project evaluations to better inform the next GEF replenishment and create learning opportunities for future GEF projects.” 

The GEF programming continues to be more and more integrated with each replenishment, a clear indication of the interlinkages between environmental issues and agrifood systems. Considering that, Fritjof Boerstler, FAO’s Senior Natural Resources Officer, shared lessons learned from the GEF’s FAO-led Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program on Dryland Sustainable Landscapes to motivate the group to think beyond stand-alone projects and move towards evaluating multi-regional integrated programs.

At the end of the intense two-day retreat, the GEF IEO thanked the group for pointed feedback on better streamlining its terminal evaluation guidelines to improve accountability and learning through evaluation of GEF-supported initiatives.

A major outcome of the workshop was the unanimous call to create a community of practice among GEF’s partner agencies as the participants emphasized the need for continued knowledge exchange and collaboration to enhance future evaluations.

The workshop was a pivotal moment in fostering a unified approach to evaluation within the GEF partnership, as the success of GEF programming will depend on evidence-based decision-making with a stronger focus on the impact of GEF-supported initiatives.

About the FAO-GEF Partnership

As a partner agency for the GEF, FAO supports countries worldwide in addressing the complex challenges at the nexus between the agrifood systems and the environment. FAO’s active global GEF portfolio currently exceeds USD 1.8 billion, assisting more than 130 countries in projects that respond to local priorities, deliver global environmental benefits, and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Visit the FAO-GEF partnership website to learn more.

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Learnings and good practices from the FAO-GEF portfolio are guiding the path toward a more robust, efficient and impactful programming. 

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