APR 2025 assesses how the GEF portfolio is performing in terms of broader adoption, sustained behavior change, cycle efficiency, and timely reporting.
The report examines whether projects deliver results that last beyond completion, while also reviewing systemic issues in the pace of the project cycle and the submission of terminal evaluations.
Broader adoption and behavior change are critical to sustaining environmental outcomes, yet both remain unevenly embedded in project design and practice.
Evaluation overview
- Persistent delays across the project cycle and late submission of terminal evaluations limit timely learning and accountability.
- Projects that embedded adaptive mechanisms and promoted continued adoption and behavior change after closure achieved stronger outcomes, but such cases are uneven across the portfolio.
- Recommendations emphasize strengthening project cycle efficiency, improving the timeliness of reporting, and embedding adoption and behavior change more systematically in project design.
Methodology
The analysis covers 2,384 completed projects, including 250 in the 2025 cohort, and draws on validated terminal evaluations, portfolio analysis, and six field-validated case studies in four countries to assess lessons for future programming.
