S ignposts GEF Annual Country Portfolio Evaluation 2012: December 2012 Latin America and the Caribbean Region The fifth Annual Country Port- Climate change adaptation in the Central America and folio Evaluation Report (syn- Caribbean region is becoming increasingly important in thesizes the main conclusions the GEF portfolios analyzed. In some countries, this is and recommendations emerg- fully evident, while in other countries adaptation is still in ing from the evaluative evi- its initial stages. In Brazil, climate change adaptation features dence in the country portfolio as a key element in many multifocal area projects. Projects in evaluations and studies conducted by the Independent Evalu- Cuba and Jamaica also address adaptation, and it is particu- ation Office of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Latin larly well addressed in the OECS by the World Bank’s Pilot America and the Caribbean. These comprised two portfolio Program on Climate Resilience. In Nicaragua, adaptation to evaluations in Nicaragua and a cluster of member countries of climate change has been recognized as a priority but has not the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)—Anti- yet been mainstreamed in the portfolio. gua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines—and two portfolio Capacity development at both the individual and institu- studies in El Salvador and Jamaica. The report also contains tional levels was good overall, with a few exceptions at the validated findings, conclusions, and preliminary recommenda- local level. In Cuba, GEF support helped promote institutional tions from country portfolio evaluations in Brazil and Cuba. The capacity and financial sustainability of projects. In Brazil, GEF countries examined include large, medium, and small recipi- projects contributed to the creation of institutions and institu- ents of GEF support, as well as a considerable number of small tional capacity, especially in water basin management. Almost island developing states (SIDS). The evaluations focused on all projects in Nicaragua have targeted local populations, and the results of GEF support, its relevance, and its efficiency. the majority of enabling activities have involved participants from local populations and/or civil society. But local institutional sus- tainability of civil society actors remains a challenge. National Findings capacity strengthening is a priority in the OECS to ensure that Results national agencies can participate in developing and manag- Most projects achieved moderately satisfactory or higher ing GEF projects. Capacity development is also critical in civil outcome ratings in their focal areas. Global environmental society, which is currently constrained in its ability to contribute benefits are still modest, though progress toward impact to effective environmental management in the region. is happening. GEF support to Brazil has enabled a long-term approach to biodiversity with sustainable results. Cuba has Many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean follow achieved satisfactory results in several areas, particularly in an ecosystem approach to environmental conservation biodiversity and biosafety. Nicaragua has achieved satisfac - and sustainable use, which increases the demand for tory results in climate change mitigation through renewable multifocal area projects. In Brazil, multifocal projects are energy projects. OECS countries have achieved satisfactory expected to become more common to exploit and address the results in climate change adaptation. On the negative side, interrelations between many GEF focal areas. In Nicaragua, overly ambitious goals in biodiversity have led to unfulfilled integrated land-use and watershed management approaches expectations in progress toward impact in achieving global have been promoted. In Cuba, nine national projects supported environmental benefits in Nicaragua. In OECS countries and by the GEF include multifocal elements. However, it is not clear Jamaica, GEF support has not moved much beyond founda- if multifocal approaches are more common now, or if new proj- tional and demonstration activities. ects are being classified as multifocal more than in the past. GEF Annual Country Portfolio Evaluation 2012: Latin America and the Caribbean Region S ignposts Scale-up, replication, and sustainability remain a chal- inadequate communication and coordination between different lenge in the portfolios analyzed, with some notable levels of the GEF partnership, limited capacity, and the complex- exceptions. The GEF portfolios in Nicaragua, the OECS, ity of fostering cooperative relationships between countries. and Jamaica lack scale-up and replication. Climate change Monitoring and evaluation for adaptive management, adaptation initiatives in the OECS are noteworthy exceptions to as well as environmental monitoring, are challenging. this trend, as is the GEF portfolio in Cuba as a whole. In Cuba, Adequate adaptive management was observed in the OECS, continuity is a government priority that applies to all externally Brazil, and Cuba. However, GEF tracking tools are still con- funded projects. Biodiversity projects in Brazil have followed sidered challenging. Lack of baseline data and centralized a sequence that has led to some scale-up and replication. knowledge management information system compounds the Opportunities for South-South cooperation through challenges to monitoring and evaluation. national, regional, and/or global projects and/or project components exist, but are not fully taken up. Some GEF Recommendations projects in Brazil and Cuba have resulted in informal and unco - ●● Project approval and implementation in SIDS should be ordinated cooperation with other Southern countries, espe - more flexible and context specific. cially on knowledge-sharing issues and transfer of information. In recent years, this South-South cooperation has increasingly ●● The burden of monitoring requirements of multifocal area been seen as a modality that should be further explored. projects should be reduced to a level comparable to that of single-focal area projects. Relevance ●● South-South cooperation should be enabled as a compo - Overall, GEF support has been relevant to both national nent of national, regional, and global projects where oppor- environmental conservation and sustainable develop- tunities for exchange of technology, capacity development, ment policies, and to the GEF international mandate of and/or sharing of best practices exist. achieving global environmental benefits. A few exceptions are noted. OECS countries faced difficulty in aligning global and regional project objectives to member countries’ national Follow-Up priorities. And in El Salvador, land degradation is a national The GEF Council requested that the Secretariat consider priority but was not addressed by GEF support. ways to make project approval and implementation in SIDS more flexible and context specific; to reduce the burden of Mixed ownership is observed in the portfolios analyzed; monitoring requirements of multifocal area projects to a level ownership is strong in middle-income economies and comparable to that of single-focal area projects; and to enable less so in SIDS, with the exception of Cuba. GEF support South-South cooperation activities as components of national, in Brazil and Cuba is nationally owned and country driven, with regional, and/or global projects where opportunities for ex- most cofinancing coming from government. Less ownership change of technology, capacity development, and/or sharing of the GEF portfolio is observed in Jamaica and the OECS. of best practices exist. Efficiency The GEF Independent Evaluation Office is an independent entity SIDS face challenges in project approval processes and in reporting directly to the GEF Council, mandated to evaluate the implementation due to the specific circumstances in which focal area programs and priorities of the GEF. The full version of GEF Annual Country Portfolio Evaluation 2012: Brazil, Cuba, they operate and to their specific needs. This hampers El Salvador, Jamaica, and the OECS (Evaluation Report No. 74) the achievement of greater global environmental benefits. is available on the GEF Independent Evaluation Office website, In Cuba, the impact of the “special period,” the embargo, the www.gefeo.org. Also available on the website are the individual recent global financial crisis, and the hurricanes of 2008 have country reports for Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Jamaica, Nicara- gua, and the OECS. For more information, please contact the affected design and implementation of GEF projects. Various Office at gefevaluation@thegef.org. structural issues challenge GEF projects in the OECS, including