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The GEF/SGP Participatory Approach
Participation, flexibility, and transparency are
cornerstones of the GEF/SGP approach. The programme
encourages and supports participation of communities,
local people, NGOs, CBOs, and other stakeholders
in key aspects of implementation:
· formulation of country programme strategies;
· development, presentation, and execution of
project concept papers and proposals;
· building partnerships to broaden the scope of
the programme and to communicate and replicate
successful GEF/SGP initiatives;
· raising public awareness of global environmental
issues and changing public attitudes and practices;
· influencing government environmental policies
and programmes; and
· mobilizing in-kind and monetary resources to
support project and programme sustainability.
In order to ensure the programme's sustainability,
it is important that the community-based projects
achieve sustainability. Community-level projects
will be sustainable if they provide direct benefits
to those implementing them.
In Kyrgyzstan, local NGOs and CBOs will be preferred
to national ("capital") ones in the
awarding of grants for local projects. For logistical
reasons, local NGOs can often achieve the same
project results (as national NGOs can) at lower
costs. Funding for a local project proposed by
a national NGO alone will be discouraged. If a
national NGO proposes a local project, the NGO
will be directed to cooperate with local NGOs,
CBOs, or the local community and to revise its
proposal to include joint management with them
or to foresee community participation in all steps
of the project. These procedures will be promoted
because they provide the least expensive and easiest
way to build the capacity of inexperienced local
NGOs and CBOs.
Cooperation among NGOs in projects will be promoted
where possible. For this reason:
· Cooperation between two or more NGOs in performing
a project will be considered a positive point
in the evaluation of the project;
· National NGOs will be encouraged to cooperate
with local ones, and vice-versa;
· Potential cooperation between an NGO active
in the GEF focal areas and another that is not
active in these areas but whose target groups
(youth, women, etc.) might be helpful for the
successful completion of the project will be considered
a positive point in the evaluation of the project.
The National Coordinator and the National Steering
Committee (NSC) will ensure that participatory
and transparent procedures are established and
practiced at the country level in accordance with
this framework and the GEF/SGP Operational Guidelines.
Resource Mobilization
The GEF/SGP will need to mobilize other resources
and organizations (NGOs, private sector, international
donors, government agencies, UNDP programmes)
to provide co-financing, technical assistance,
capacity building, gender training, income-generation
components, and any other non-GEF element that
may be necessary for a project's success. In order
to secure co-financing and technical assistance
for projects to complement or augment GEF/SGP
grants whenever possible, the GEF/SGP country
programme should develop linkages through activities
such as:
· Supporting the establishment of a self-regulating
revolving fund for income-generating projects;
· Encouraging grant recipients to contribute a
certain percentage of the overall project budget
to the revolving fund;
· Encouraging community contributions to the revolving
fund;
· Seeking co-financing arrangements with other
donors such as international NGOs, bilateral funding
agencies, multilateral agencies, and the private
sector (individuals and private companies) to
sustain GEF/SGP projects;
· Building corporate (private) sector partnerships
(e.g., hotels, travel agencies, banks) and organizing
dialogue sessions with them.
The participation of partner donors and local
and national stakeholders in project implementation
enhances sustainability of the GEF/SGP intervention.
It is hoped that NGO or donor partners would also
look to GEF/SGP for assistance in focusing on
global environmental concerns when designing their
own projects.
Capacity Building and Technical Assistance
GEF/SGP gives priority to projects that:
· Ensure community participation in the drafting,
implementing, monitoring, and evaluation process;
· Include cooperation with local organizations;
· Address sustainable livelihoods of local communities;
· Rely on local technical and scientific resources;
· Foresee capacity building.
The GEF/SGP National Coordinator, NSC members,
relevant NGOs, and other stakeholders will participate
in a GEF country network.
The GEF/SGP in Kyrgyzstan will encourage NGOs/CBOs
to visit successful projects. NSC members will
also participate in exchanges and visits to the
sites of GEF/SGP-funded projects. These exchanges
will facilitate the training process and the dissemination
of information on best practices and lessons learned.
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