IEO conducts accountability and learning-focused evaluations that generate lessons learned for the GEF. The evaluations focus on results, impact and performance of the GEF, and address strategic issues of the partnership.
Overall Performance Studies (OPS) are performed every four years to provide solid evaluative evidence to donors. These evaluations provide an independent assessment of performance and results of the GEF over a GEF replenishment period. The comprehensive evaluations assess the extent to which the GEF is achieving its objectives and identify potential areas of improvement.
An Evaluative Approach to Assessing GEF's Additionality 2018
Since its inception in 1992, the GEF has been at the forefront of leveraging local investments to achieve global impact. Yet. accounting for the GEF’s additionality – additional benefits that are attributable to the GEF – has remained a challenge.
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Annual Performance Report (APR) 2019
The annual performance report (APR) provides an update on performance of the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) portfolio of completed projects. It reports on project outcomes, the likelihood of sustainability of project outcomes, the quality of project implementation and execution, co-financing trends, the quality of project M&E systems, and the coverage of terminal evaluation reports. APR 2019 covers 1,566 completed GEF projects which account for $6.9 billion in GEF grants. Terminal evaluations for 193 projects were received and validated during 2018-2019.
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Evaluation of GEF's Support to Mainstreaming Biodiversity 2018
This is the first stand-alone evaluation of the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF’s) support to mainstreaming biodiversity interventions. The purpose of this evaluation is to assess the overall performance and effectiveness of GEF biodiversity mainstreaming projects drawing on the portfolio and in-depth case studies conducted in Colombia, India and South Africa. The study is based on the evaluative evidence drawn from the portfolio analysis of 471 biodiversity mainstreaming related projects, and three country case studies looking at the experiences from GEF-3 through GEF-6.
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Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Strategic Country Cluster Evaluation (SCCE)
The strategic country cluster evaluation (SCCE) of small island developing states (SIDS) covers 39 SIDS in the AIMS (Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea), Caribbean, and Pacific regions. The choice to evaluate the SIDS as a strategic cluster is based on their shared geophysical constraints, resulting in disproportionately large economic, social and environmental challenges, and is supported by Council members’ requests for a more in-depth reviewing of the SIDS portfolio of projects.
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Annual Performance Report (APR) 2017
The annual performance report (APR) provides an update on performance of the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) portfolio of completed projects. It provides an update on project outcomes, the likelihood of sustainability of project outcomes, the quality of project implementation and execution, co-financing trends, the quality of project M&E systems, and the coverage and quality of terminal evaluation reports. It also includes the adoption of GEF Council decisions that are based on GEF IEO recommendations, and a summary assessment of the performance of GEF Agencies.
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Value for Money Analysis of GEF Interventions in Support of Sustainable Forest Management 2019
Since its inception, the GEF has provided support to its partner countries to improve the sustainability of their forestry resources. Although SFM is not a focal area, forest-based interventions have been supported through GEF focal area interventions, multifocal projects, integrated approach pilots (IAPs), and, more recently, designed through the impact programs. While projects prior to GEF-5 addressed forest issues through several focal area objectives, the GEF initiated a dedicated SFM program in GEF 5.
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GEF Evaluation Policy 2019
In May 2014, the GEF Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) recommended an update to the GEF Monitoring and Evaluation Policy to the GEF Council, to ensure its continued relevance in the context of the evolution of the GEF partnership since 2010. In October 2015, the IEO analyzed all GEF Council decisions taken since the last M&E Policy was issued in 2010. This analysis identified several gaps in the 2010 Policy including gender and safeguard standards, and program level evaluation, among others.
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Evaluation of GEF Support to Scaling up Impact 2019
Scaling up is not new to the GEF and in the last decade, all GEF focal areas have been shifting from site-level pilot projects towards projects or programs implemented at higher scales. Based on a review of focal area strategies and interviews with the GEF partnership, the GEF has gradually shifted its focus from pilots to scaled-up interventions over the last 25 years. In part, this is because the GEF partnership has built up a much better understanding of what interventions work based on the portfolio of demonstration projects implemented during GEF's early phases.
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GEF Project Performance and Progress to Impact (APR 2016)
The Sixth Comprehensive Evaluation of the GEF (OPS6) is being undertaken to inform the GEF-7 replenishment on the results and performance of the GEF Partnership and of the activities that the partnership supports, and on areas for further improvement. OPS6 aims to assess two broad areas: (1) institutional, governance, strategy and programming issues, and (2) the performance and impact of the GEF. The GEF IEO conducted a review of the project level accomplishments, as one of the activities to assess the GEF performance and impact.
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Value for Money Analysis for GEF Land Degradation Projects 2016
This analysis brings together economists, computer scientists and geographers with expertise in remote sensing and impact evaluation to apply a value for money (VFM) assessment to the case of GEF Land Degradation (LD) projects. Leveraging methodological approaches to causal identification that have not previously been applied to the study of Land Degradation, this report explicitly quantifies (1) the causally-identified impact attributable to GEF LD project locations using three indicators (capturing vegetation productivity, forest fragmentation, and forest cover change), and (2) the VFM resultant from these impacts of GEF LD projects in terms of carbon sequestration.
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