International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

3rd Targeted Workshop for GEF IW Projects in Latin American & Caribbean

23rd - 25th April 2014 - Kingston, Jamaica
The 3rd Latin America & Caribbean Targeted Workshop for Global Environment Facility (GEF) International Waters (IW) Projects will be jointly organized by the International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network (IW:LEARN), a GEF project implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) & United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), together with the UNEP Caribbean Environment Program (UNEP-CEP), Conservation International, the World Wildlife Fund and other partners. The workshop will take place at the Caribbean Environment Programme secretariat in Kingston, Jamaica: International Seabed Authority (Jamaica Conference Centre) First Floor 14-20 Port Royal Street. The workshop will be centered on three themes: High-Level Policy Engagement, Private Sector Engagement and Indicators & Results Frameworks.

The overall aim of the workshop will be to raise capacity among GEF IW projects and partners on aspects of three different topics of practical concern to GEF project implementation. This is in response to projects desire to learn about and exchange knowledge on a variety of topics. The first topic concerns challenges relating to high-level policy engagement with regard to the sustainability of impacts/outcomes. The second topic centers on improving private sector engagement in GEF IW Project management. Finally, there will be a session on “Indicators, results frameworks and results based approaches”. The latter would focus on the coordination of/establishing synergies among regional efforts (GEF and non-GEF) on indicators. The session would give attention to for example, the monitoring & evaluation of Strategic Action Program implementations, what actors do what in the region on indicators. It will provide an opportunity to jointly analyze options and opportunities to monitor and report on the state of the various ecosystems (for example LME's, rivers) in a well-coordinated way, be it in the context of regional initiatives such as our SAPs, or international initiatives such as the Ocean Health Index (or related freshwater initiatives).

The first targeted workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in St. Kitts and Nevis in 2012, identified priority topics around which to structure future regional workshops. Governance was highly ranked by GEF IW project managers during that workshop.

The second targeted workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Argentina in 2013, aimed to build capacity among GEF IW-Projects on issues of governance, specifically concerning how project outcomes could be sustained through the right mix of governance structures, policies and legislation and be more impactful at the national, sub-regional and regional levels.

This final workshop will seek to address two topics:

  • Challenges associated with High Level Policy engagements and the sustainability of impacts or outcomes;
  • Private Sector Engagement and
  • Indicators & Results Frameworks.
  • It will focus on the monitoring and evaluation of Strategic Action Program implementations and the coordination of existing and establishing new synergies among GEF and non-GEF regional efforts on indicators. Project managers from across Latin America and the Caribbean Region, will be given an opportunity to jointly analyse options and opportunities to monitor and report on the state of the various ecosystems (for example, large marine ecosystems; rivers).