S 57586 ignposts Evaluation Office G LOBAL E NVIRONMENT F ACILITY March 2008 GEF Country Portfolio Evaluation: Samoa (1992­2007) From January to April 2007, the of the strategy such as protection/conservation of biodiver- Evaluation Office of the Global sity; protection of water catchments; and increased aware- Environment Facility (GEF) car- ness of potential climate change impacts, the importance Photo: Claudio Volonté, GEF Evaluation Office ried out an evaluation of GEF of ozone-depleting substances, community-based natural support to Samoa, the third such country analysis under- resource management, and community development. It taken by the Office. Samoa was selected for evaluation for has also been instrumental in developing national environ- several reasons, notably its long-term and diverse portfolio mental policies and strategies. featuring national, regional, and global projects by all three All GEF-funded projects are highly relevant to the GEF GEF Implementing Agencies. Additionally, Samoa repre- mandate and focal areas, but slow follow-up support sents two groups of countries that are highly relevant to from government sources could jeopardize the sustain- the GEF: small island developing states of the Pacific and ability of results. GEF projects in Samoa have focused pri- least developed countries. marily on biodiversity, climate change, land degradation, and Conducted by Evaluation Office staff and a team of inter- international waters; enabling activities have concentrated national and local consultants, the evaluation combined largely on capacity building. Despite the close linkages be- qualitative and quantitative methods and tools, including tween GEF priorities and Samoan national priorities, the review of existing information, extensive interviews with key sustainability of results cannot be guaranteed because the GEF stakeholders, one major consultation workshop, and government has provided inadequate follow-up funding. site visits to selected projects. The evaluation focused on Results of the Portfolio a portfolio of 18 projects accounting for an estimated GEF Enabling activities have helped Samoa build the foun- investment of $7 million and explored three key questions: dations for its environmental frameworks and strate- Is GEF support relevant to national development needs gies, which are necessary conditions for generating and challenges as well as to the GEF mandate, objec- global environmental benefits. Samoa has completed all tives, policies, and focal area programs and strategies? necessary national plans, policies, and legislation related Is GEF support efficient as indicated by the time, effort, to the environment; increased staff capacity substantially and money needed to develop and implement GEF proj- within the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; ects; any particular issues related to regional projects; and increased public awareness on key issues. and synergies and partnerships between GEF projects Completed projects have achieved concrete on-the- and between GEF and government agencies as well as ground results; however, reporting on results is sty- other GEF stakeholders? mied by the poor quality of final evaluations and lim- What are the results of completed projects? ited baselines. Notably, GEF support in the biodiversity focal area has contributed significantly to the conservation Findings and sustainable management of forest and marine eco- Relevance of the Portfolio systems. However, analysts' ability to quantify projects' GEF support has been relevant to both the Samoa De- good results are hampered by the information generated velopment Strategy and national environmental poli- by project evaluations, which has been largely limited to cies. GEF support can be directly linked to key outcomes reports on outcomes and does not address impacts on en- S ignposts Evaluation Office G LOBAL E NVIRONMENT F ACILITY GEF Country Portfolio Evaluation: Samoa (1992­2007) vironmental conditions. The absence of such information reduce the high transaction costs associated with the is attributed to the fact that evaluations were conducted region by avoiding stand-alone GEF projects and incor- before intended project impacts could be discerned. porating GEF activities into the programs of GEF Agen- cies working in the region; Efficiency of the Portfolio strengthen aid harmonization across GEF stakeholders; Samoa has improved its efficiency in accessing GEF funding, although obstacles remain. The Ministry of identify the global environmental benefits to be gained Natural Resources and Environment has improved its ca- in Samoa and the Pacific. pacity and expanded its mandate, and action plans and To the Government of Samoa strategies in many areas are ready for implementation. Ad- ditionally, the country's Small Grants Programme has been Environmental concerns need increased visibility recognized as a useful mechanism for local communities to in the Samoa Development Strategy. Although envi- receive support. Among the obstacles to more efficient use ronmental issues have been well integrated into many of GEF funding are the cost and complexity of GEF projects; sectors and policy areas, the strategy treats the envi- the delays between project preparation and actual start-up; ronment as a cross-cutting issue rather than as a prior- and implementation of the Resource Allocation Framework, ity or sector. Donors consequently do not prioritize it for which has created additional uncertainties, particularly support. about the fate of projects in previous pipelines. Also, there Increased participation by additional stakeholders has been no harmonization of efforts or funding among the in implementing GEF-supported projects will in- various players working in the environment sector. crease national capacity. The Ministry of Natural Re- sources and Environment should build on its successes High transaction costs and limited appreciation of col- with GEF projects by reaching out to other sectors, both laborative opportunities have kept most GEF Agencies within government and in civil society, to assist in project from becoming involved in Samoa. Although most GEF implementation and to increase the country's capacity. Agencies have a presence in the Pacific region, several fac- tors limit their involvement with Samoa, including the high transaction costs of developing stand-alone GEF activities Follow-Up in the Pacific, a lack of internal communications within Agen- The GEF Council reviewed this evaluation at its June 2007 cies about the possibilities of GEF and the logistics of GEF meeting and requested that the Secretariat take into ac- procedures, and limited GEF resources for Samoa. count Samoa's experience with the GEF in its further de- velopment of the GEF Pacific Alliance for Sustainability. Recommendations To the GEF Council Based on the GEF experience in Samoa, the program- The GEF Evaluation Office is an independent entity matic approach for the Pacific SIDS should reporting directly to the GEF Council, mandated to eval- uate the focal area programs and priorities of the GEF. focus on assisting countries in establishing the founda- tion for policies and strategies and in developing action The full version of the GEF Country Portfolio Evalua- tion: Samoa (1992­2007) (Evaluation Report No. 37, plans, frameworks, and priorities, primarily through en- 2008) is available in the Publications section of the abling activities; GEF Evaluation Office Web site, www.gefeo.org. For more information, please contact the GEF Evaluation be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the different ca- Office at gefevaluation@thegef.org. pacities of the various Pacific island countries;