The GEF/SGP Country Programme Strategy shall be considered the overall framework for implementation of the programme. Therefore, it is essential for it to be seen and used as a living document.

The GEF/SGP Country Programme Strategy shall be reviewed and updated, if appropriate, on an annual basis. This review shall involve an annual stakeholder workshop or a broader session of the NSC. The annual review will provide an important opportunity to look at accomplishments of the past year and to plan for the following year.

A Workplan based on each revised Country Programme Strategy shall be prepared and implemented. A monitoring and evaluation system based on the GEF/SGP Monitoring and Evaluation Framework will be established and implemented for assessing programme performance and impact.

Each approved GEF/SGP project should include a Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan with appropriate indicators developed by the programme. The Plan should specify how information will be collected and who will be responsible for it.

M&E indicators should
· measure/assess the most important expected results of project activities and objectives, and
· be based on accessible data that can be collected by the implementing NGO(s)/CBO(s) and project participants.

In accordance with the particular needs of each project, indicators should also be
· quantitative (in terms of numbers and percentages),
· qualitative (easily described in words),
· time-specific (stating the relevant timeframe clearly),
· independent of the objective (should not be the same as the objective), and
· cost-effective (the cost of collecting the data should not exceed the value of the information).

Resource allocation will be made within each project to cover community-driven, participatory monitoring and evaluation.

Project monitoring will focus on lessons learned and capacity building. Grantees shall submit financial and progress reports and final project reports as required. The National Coordinator, NSC members, and UNDP focal point person for GEF/SGP will undertake project site visits and monitor projects. Broad-based evaluation teams will conduct mid-term and final evaluations (internal, external or thematic). After each project is complete, the National Coordinator will prepare Reports on Project Evaluation and Lessons Learned based on the final report and participatory evaluation.

Successful replicable experiences, best practices, and learning from negative experiences will be documented and shared with stakeholders and relevant partners. Stakeholder workshops or wider sessions of the NSC will be organized on an annual basis to share lessons learned and to evaluate bottlenecks and strengths of the GEF/SGP as well as to review the Country Programme Strategy

GEF/SGP Priority Areas
Priority areas include the following:

· Areas located close to reserves, national parks, zakaznik, and other sites with special nature protection or natural resource utilization status;
· "Hotspots" including unique flora and fauna under threat of destruction as a result of excessive anthropogenic activity;
· Problematic land and water geo-systems (territories located close to mining entities, those exposed to intense air and agricultural pollution, reservoirs and irrigation systems, inundation zones, pastures located close to settlements, etc.);
· Territories with special value because of their concentration of globally important biodiversity or their seasonal concentration of rare and endangered species of animals (places of wintering, molting, and reproduction, paths of migration, etc.).

The list of territories and sites will be defined and clarified in the process of programme implementation.

GEF/SGP Target Groups
Four basic categories of groups, or combinations thereof, have priority eligibility for receiving GEF/SGP grants. All GEF/SGP grantees must be legally registered in order to receive funds.

· Family Associations: A Family Association is a group of five or more families who live compactly in one territory, share general ideas and interests, and are ready to solve social and ecological problems through common efforts.

· Community-based Organizations and Associations: Community-based organizations and associations are groups of people who live within a single community and provide assistance to one another. Examples are associations of farmers, teachers, doctors, water and land consumers, gardening companies, condominium residents, housing cooperative societies, women, youth, etc.

· Territorial Public Councils: Territorial Councils include blok councils, mahalla councils, councils of patriarch, etc.

· Ecological and Wilderness Protection NGOs (local and national): An Ecological and Wilderness Protection NGO is a registered, voluntary, self-controlled, noncommercial association of citizens including experts in the fields of ecology, environmental protection, biological resources, and/or protection of wilderness and adjoining domains, created for the purpose of performing public activities to improve and protect the environment.