Minimum Requirement 3 of the GEF Evaluation Policy obliges all completed projects, including enabling activities, to be evaluated and documented. Enabling activities provide grants of up to $2 million to help countries prepare national plans, strategies, and reports required under conventions, but they are not expected to deliver measurable environmental benefits at closure.

The goal of this evaluation is to assess whether completion reporting for enabling activities is consistent, proportionate, and useful for accountability and learning.

A completion memorandum of enabling activities will report on whether the planned outputs of the evaluated activity were delivered and if the GEF grant was properly used.

Evaluation overview

• Many completion reports are inconsistent or missing, limiting accountability. Some activities lack even basic documentation of delivered outputs or use of GEF funds.
• When completion memorandums are aligned with convention cycles or national planning, countries produce stronger communications, more reliable data inventories, and in some cases follow-up actions that extend benefits after closure.
• The guidelines call for short, standardized memorandums that verify outputs and financing, clarify agency responsibilities, and embed reporting within regular submission processes to conventions.

Methodology

The IEO will synthesize completion memorandums to assess portfolio performance, generate knowledge products, and make data publicly available.