The GEF Independent Evaluation Office, the Environmental Law Institute and the World Bank held a webinar on Lessons from an Evaluation of the GEF's Interventions in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations. The event was part of the gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2021.
Summary
Environmental issues, fragility, and conflict are intrinsically linked, and the dynamics of these diverse linkages can fundamentally determine the course of post-conflict recovery, cooperation, and transformation. Natural resources in fragile and conflict-affected situations, if managed well, can support livelihoods, reduce poverty, and help strengthen the post-conflict economy. The Global Environmental Facility(GEF) has invested over $4.0 billion in countries affected by major armed conflict, comprising 29 percent of its global portfolio, indicating that GEF-supported environmental interventions are likely exposed to risks related to conflict and fragility. For the first time since the GEF's inception 30 years ago, the GEF IEO, with the Environmental Law Institute, conducted an evaluation of GEF's interventions in these fragile and conflict-affected situations. We applied a mixed-methods approach including remote sensing, statistical analysis, and qualitative methods to explore five critical pathways through which conflict and fragility affect GEF projects, and the approaches taken by the GEF to address implementation challenges. This session will also present some of the broader issues at the intersection of environment, conflict, and fragility, and discuss the implications of the evaluation findings for future conflict-sensitive programming.