45209 July 2008 In this Issue IV. GEF Evaluation Office I. Letter from the CEO a. Preparations for the Fourth Overall II. GEF Partnerships and Initiatives Performance Study Have a. Launch of International Started Tiger Conservation b. Outcomes from the Initiative International Conference b. GEF Earth Fund: a Public on Evaluating Climate Private Partnership Change and c. GEF proposed to grant Development China with US$1 million c. Inputs on the RAF for a Rapid Assessment midterm review of Chemical Contamination of the V. Country Support Program News Wenchuan Earthquake in National Dialogue Initiative: Sichuan Province National and Sub-regional Workshops in Africa III. Stories from the Agencies a. GEF Strategic VI. Announcement of new political Partnership on the Black and operational focal points and Sea and Danube Basin - council members ten successful projects financed by GEF VII. New Staff and other investment fund in ECA announcements from the GEF b. Groundwater: The Case Secretariat for Africa a. Patrizia Cocca ­ c. Development Communications Officer Marketplace announced b. Danielus Pivoriunas ­ the 100 finalists for this Senior Operations Officer years' competition on c. NEW GREEN SPACE for sustainable agriculture STAP Secretariat and UNEP/GEF Liaison Office d. Take the GEF website survey VIII. Upcoming Events A Letter from the CEO rebuilding Further to that goal I would like to share with you that for the first time in the history of our biodiversity projects, we designed an emergency project to assess the damage to biodiversity inflicted by the quake with the idea of helping the local population deal with their immediate needs after this natural disaster. This effort not only include measures to rehabilitate the habitat of the brand animal of the Chinese Szechuan province, the Panda, but will also help further highlight how we can mainstream biodiversity issues into government disaster recovery planning. Along with our programming efforts, I would like to share with you details of some important gatherings we participated in over this past spring. The spring Council meeting in April was again an essential event with lots of important discussions and key decisions made. For the GEF secretariat it is an extremely helpful exercise to present work plans, meet with NGOs and get Dear Colleague: feedback, guidance and approvals from council members. In Bonn during May- Greetings from the GEF Secretariat in June, the Biodiversity COP-9, the Washington, DC UNFCCC meeting on Climate Change and the second board meeting of the Summer is here and we hope the Adaptation Fund were held, and we season finds you well. Here in were active participants helping to push Washington last month we experienced forward our mission of investing locally 100-year record high temperatures for global environmental benefits. mixed with a series of tornadoes that roared through the DC metropolitan After Bonn, I had the wonderful area. But this is nothing compared to opportunity to make my first trip to the what happened on the other side of our Central Asian region where I had the fragile earth., The devastating typhoon chance to meet with our partners in in Myanmar and the terrible earthquake capitals and in the field. Making this trip in China for example both destroyed was very important for me because I hundreds of thousands of lives as well wanted to strengthen our GEF as uprooting huge amount of fauna and relationship with key stakeholders in flora and damaging key habititats, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan further threatening biodiversity. and Azerbaijan. We at the GEF of course felt compelled Back in Washington I also had the to do what we could to help mitigate this priveledge to participate with our World suffering and help people begin the Bank Group partners on a signature painful but necessary process of event called "Save the Tiger" at the Smithsonian Zoo here in Washington DC. Joined by WBG President Robert Zoellick the GEF participated in a full day of events with representatives of the international community, industry and NGOs to launch a "Tiger Coalition" designed to spread awareness of this majestic endangered species and the ongoing encroachment of its habitat by development.. As an "umbrella" species at the top of the food chain in the wild, tigers represent an important indicator of the status of wildlife and the balance of biodiversity. Building on awareness with this tiger we hope to also garner interest and support with other public-private partners to save other threatened species and I encourage you to watch this space for more details in this area. With this I wish you all a great and relaxing summer time. Before closing this letter, I encourage you visit the latest updates we have made to our website at www.thegef.org. We've added a multimedia and a publications section and did some other small changes that hopefully will make our website more interesting. However we are working on revamping the GEF website to offer you an interactive and user-friendly tool. For this reason I encourage you to browse the pages and offer us feedback on how we can make further improvements. In the meantime, have a restful summer. Best Wishes Monique Barbut Chairman and CEO Global Environment Facility Launch of International Tiger Conservation Initiative The World Bank Group, the Global Environment Facility, the Smithsonian National Zoo and the International Tiger Coalition launched a new Tiger Conservation Initiative on June 9th in Washington DC. The launch brought together scientists, celebrities and other partners to raise awareness of the need to increase international action to reverse the alarming decline in wild tiger (Robert Zoellick, World Bank President, numbers. Tiger numbers have declined giving the inaugural speech) to less than 4,000 animals across thirteen range countries, where they occupy less than seven percent of their historic range. The new Initiative will support a series of dialogues in tiger range countries to Loss of prey and habitat due to increase awareness of the urgent need uncontrolled development and poaching for tiger conservation, mainstream for the black-market trade in tiger skins biodiversity conservation in and bones continue to fuel the species' development projects and disseminate rapid demise. and replicate best practice and lessons learned to save tigers in the wild. The partnership will also assess the financing needs of tiger conservation and collaborate with governments and the private sector to find innovative funding sources and mobilize new resources for the species? For more information contact: kmackinnon@worldbank.org (Harrison Ford meets with kids at the launch of the Save the Tiger initiative (to the left: Caio Fonseca, son of Gustavo Fonseca/GEFSEC) GEF Earth Fund: a Public Private Partnership The development of a GEF private sector strategy* in 2006 has led to the creation of The GEF Earth Fund, which is the name for the GEF Public Private Partnership Initiative approved by the GEF Council in June 2007. The overall objective of the GEF Earth Fund is to establish, in cooperation with the IFC, a new form of partnership to support environmental innovation and help accelerate the emergence and replication of projects that will generate global environmental benefits in a sustainable and cost-effective manner in the developing world. The GEF Council has agreed to earmark $50 million for this initiative and the objective is to raise an additional $150 million. This innovative tool will give GEF the ability to better attract funding from private companies, individual donors and foundations and work more directly with a broader network of partners, as not only the GEF agencies, but also NGOs or Foundations with fiduciary standards that meet GEF requirements, will be allowed to propose programs. Contributors will have the ability to become members of the Earth Fund Board, which will shape the strategy under the guidance of the GEF Council. A first $30 million IFC program on climate change and biodiversity will be launched over the summer, while it is expected that the full Earth Fund Board will be set up in the fall. For any question please contact: mmokass@thegef.org *"The Public Private Partnership Initiative: Furthering the GEF Strategy to Enhance Engagement with the Private Sector" GEF Grants US$1 Million to releases of dioxins and furans from the China for Rapid Assessment disposal process can be minimized. of Chemical Contamination For more information, contact: after the Earthquake hchan@worldbank.org A catastrophic earthquake, named "Wenchuan", measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale jolted Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces of China at 14:28 on May 12, 2008. More than 8,000 major aftershocks with a magnitude above 4.0 on the Richter scale were recorded while some were as high as 6.4. The National Earthquake Bureau (NEB) has predicted that aftershocks will continue for a long period of time and some may reach a magnitude of 6.0 to 7.0. The Chinese Government has declared that the destruction caused by the earthquake is the most severe natural disaster since the establishment of the People's Republic of China 60 years ago, with a death toll over 69,000 and affected population over 30 million as of May 28, 2008. The hardest hit areas are in about 40 counties in Sichuan Province because of their closeness to the epicenter and mountainous topography. The proposed GEF project is an integral part of the Bank's efforts in supporting the Chinese government in their response to the Wenchuan Earthquake. This project, together with the Bank's GFDRR proposal, will evaluate earthquake damages and assess needs for recovery and reconstruction. Activities will focus on a short-term response measure (STRM) to identify and assess potential impacts and risks associated with hazardous chemicals and wastes, including Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), released from damaged facilities in Sichuan. It will also ensure that disposal of hazardous chemicals and wastes will be properly managed so that potential segregation and water quality monitoring (Romania); GEF Strategic Partnership on - constructing manure management the Black Sea and Danube facilities and promoting organic Basin ­ Ten Successful farming (e.g. Turkey). Projects Financed by GEF The projects were part of the GEF Investment Fund in ECA "Strategic Partnership for Nutrient reduction in the Danube River Basin and Black Sea". The Partnership is a multilateral structure established with Nowhere on Earth have such the cooperation of the World Bank, demonstrable water quality and UNDP, UNEP, and other financiers, as ecosystem improvements been well as basin countries to address the observed in a large river and adjacent environmental degradation of the Black sea as in the Danube River/Black Sea Sea and Danube Basin region. The system over the last decade. As a result GEF Investment Fund is managed by of Basin countries efforts, including the World Bank, was established to GEF­funded investments, nitrogen catalyze investments and accelerate emissions have decreased about 20% action by other stakeholders interested and phosphorus almost 50 % in the in the recovery of the Black Sea. It Danube Basin/Black Sea in the last 15 managed to leverage US$365 million to years. The dead zone at the Blac Sea's complement US$70 million GEF grant northwest shelf has been virtually funds for nutrient reduction investments eliminated and the Sea is showing in the agriculture, and municipal and evidence of recovery. industrial wastewater treatment sectors and for wetland restoration. Since 2002, ten World Bank projects supported by the Investment Fund for Details about the projects, a vast range Nutrient Reduction and financed by the of materials on nutrient reduction and Global Environmental Facility (GEF) much more about the successful GEF have been very successful in piloting Strategic Partnership on the Black Sea measures to reduce nutrient loads and Danube Basin can be found on the entering the Black Sea and Danube new website: Basin. The projects in Bosnia and http://www.worldbank.org/blacksea Herzegovina (BiH), Bulgaria, Croatia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Turkey supported, among others: - introducing innovative low-cost wastewater treatment methods (BiH, Moldova) - promoting wetlands as environmentally and economically friendly investments benefiting populations (e.g. Bulgaria) - restoring degraded land and reducing soil erosion (e.g. Moldova), introducing waste Groundwater: The Case for Africa Coursing gently beneath the world's covering an area of 2 million km2 across surface, lays 98-99% of the entire global Libya, Egypt, Tchad and the Sudan. The freshwater supply. Groundwater key elements of a GEF project jointly represents 8 to 10 million Km3 of water. implemented by UNDP, IAEA and Globally, about 1.5 billion people UNESCO include mapping its depend upon groundwater for their resources, strengthening cooperation drinking water supply. In Africa, home to through an agreed plan of action and the majority of large aquifers, getting Tchad and the Sudan fully groundwater resources hold 175 times engaged in the Joint Authority that acts as much fresh water as rivers and lakes as the regional institution. combined. However, surface waters On behalf of UN-Water and in receive much more attention, support partnership with private and public and funding and groundwater resources partners, UNESCO has embarked on a are currently underutilized, with a global large-scale groundwater assessment annual consumption of about 800 Km3; programme called WHYMAP. Building this represents only about 20 percent of on this scientific work and tackling the total annual freshwater withdrawals governance aspect, a UNDP pan- (WMO, 1997). African project, operating with GEF funding and following through the The UNDP Water Governance German-supported Petersberg Programme has estimated that 42 dialogues, provides targeted input to the African countries will not meet their African Ministerial Conference On Water MDG water targets by 2015 in the (AMCOW) in implementing the Africa `business-as-usual' scenario. In terms of Water Vision 2025. In partnership with investments, responding to people's African and international bodies, the needs and sustainable development and project is working to bridge the gap attaining the MDGs, there is a strong between surface and groundwater, and need to better map out and sustainably between technicians and politicians. It develop Africa's groundwater resources. does so by building capacity of River Basin Organizations to deal with UNDP is one of the leading players and groundwater and by targeting global advocates in the development parliamentarians, ministers of finance and sustainable utilization of and the media for increased groundwater resources for poverty understanding of groundwater and its reduction. For example the UNDP-GEF role. Eastern Desert Project in Egypt has developed a methodology for assessing Projects such as these illustrate how groundwater recharge from flash floods. UNDP and the GEF are working With the projected increases in flash together, to achieve the MDGs and floods as a result of climate change, this provide equitable and safe access to may offer an interesting adaptation water under growing global response. uncertainties. Groundwater projects are often transboundary and involve many partners. The Nubian Aquifer is the largest fossil aquifer in the world, The Development Marketplace announces 100 finalists for this years` competition on sustainable agriculture On June 23, 2008 the Development The competitions are held at the global, Marketplace (DM) announced the regional and national level and attract a selection of 100 innovative ideas to range of ideas from innovators, civil promote sustainable agriculture. The society, academia, social entrepreneurs DM is a competitive grant program that and business. identifies and fund innovative, early- stage projects with high potential for For more information, please, visit: development impact; it is administered www.developmentmarketplace.org by the World Bank in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other development partners. This year's global competition, organized in coordination with the Agricultural and Rural Development (ARD) department of the World Bank, has drawn 1,768 proposals from around the world addressing three issues: linking small- scale farmers to markets, improving land access and tenure for the poor, and addressing the challenges of climate change and biodiversity. The greatest majority of the selected finalists come from sub-Saharan Africa (41 percent), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (21 percent), East Asia and the Pacific (19 percent), South Asia (14 percent), Eastern Europe and Central Asia (3 percent) and the Middle East and North Africa (2 percent). The top nine countries of implementation are India, Kenya, the Philippines, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Nepal, Tanzania and Vietnam. The finalists compete for grant funding at the Marketplace to be held September 24-25 at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. Since 1998, the Development Marketplace has awarded more than $46 million in grants to over 1,000 initiatives. Preparations for the Fourth Overall Performance Study Have Started The GEF is replenished by donors every Additional information on the OPS4 can four years. All replenishments have be found on the GEF Evaluation Office been informed by "overall performance website at www.gefeo.org. Comments studies," which have provided an and reactions are welcome independent assessment of the at OPS4@TheGEF.org. achievements of the GEF up to the time of the study. The GEF Evaluation Office has been asked by the GEF Council to undertake the Fourth Overall Performance Study (OPS4), which will be an important document for the Fifth Replenishment of the GEF. The overall objective of OPS4 will be to assess the extent to which the GEF is achieving its main objectives. The GEF Evaluation Office has formulated five clusters of questions on which the study will focus on 1) the niche and added value of the GEF, 2) results of the GEF, 3) relevance of the GEF, 4) performance issues of the GEF, and 5) resource mobilization and financial management. In collecting and analyzing data and drawing conclusions and recommendations, OPS4 will be based on a wide variety of sources of information, methods of analyzing them, and appropriate meta-evaluation techniques to ensure that OPS4 will be a valid, credible and legitimate report. The Evaluation Office will follow a "mixed methods" and "theory based" approach to ensure that questions are properly understood and researched. The draft Terms of Reference were shared with the GEF Council in June and will be finalized in July. OPS4 will be conducted during the coming year and will be submitted to the replenishment in mid 2009. International Conference on Evaluating Climate Change and Development, 10-13 May 2008 in Alexandria, Egypt. On adaptation and vulnerability, Over two hundred international experts participants signaled a continuing gathered in Alexandria, Egypt, from May need for improved information 10-13, Egypt, for a high level exchange and practical approaches. international conference on Evaluating The urgency of the issue requires Climate Change and Development. The evaluators, practitioners and event was organized jointly by the researchers to become involved in Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the GEF design and in empowering Evaluation Office and various other communities as well as partners, such as AFD, FFEM, IUCN governments. and IDEAS, and tackled a number of Moreover, there is a need to topical issues related to effective climate establish an issues driven change evaluation. community of practice, a global In opening the conference Mr. Maged network of evaluators, practitioners Elias, Minister of State for and researchers working on climate Environmental Affairs, Egypt, welcomed change and sustainable the impressive range of delegates on development. It is through this behalf of H.E. Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. network like this that support can be Amongst the climate change experts in given to ­ and further develop ­ attendance, representatives were drawn evaluation capacity in developing from international organizations, countries. academia, NGOs and civil sector The Conference also presented a organizations. valuable opportunity for practioners Mrs. Monique Barbut, CEO of the GEF, to come together and discuss the launched the meeting with a keynote establishment of a knowledge address. She explained the conference repository of climate change was aimed at identifying good practices evaluations. A large interest in the and information gaps in evaluations of repository was shown and the climate changes and development Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the WB projects and programmes. A second aim Library and the GEF Evaluation was to improve and realize the potential Office are now working towards for evaluations to contribute to climate ensuring that this repository change mitigation and adaptation. becomes a reality. A key issue was the need to capitalize Many significant findings emerged on emerging best practices in from this conference and Rob D. van evaluating mitigation of climate den Berg, Director of the Evaluation change. These best practices should be Office, outlined some of them in his further developed into frameworks and final summary statement, which guidelines that are internationally included conclusions and action accepted by the professional community points on how to proceed. The of evaluators. closing statement as well as presentations, discussions, reports and webcasts can be found at: www.esdevaluation.org. Input on the RAF midterm review The midterm review (MTR) of the GEF More information, including frequently Resource Allocation framework (RAF) is asked questions on the MTR and the progressing well. The report will be team composition, can be found on the presented to the GEF Council GEF Evaluation Office website November 2008 session; and we expect www.gefeo.org under RAF MTR. We that an early draft will be shared with also welcome any direct feedback on stakeholders in September 2008. experiences with the RAF. Please contact rafevaluation@thegef.org or the As most evaluations at mid-point, the task manager Siv Tokle, MTR will focus on recommendations to stokle@thegef.org with your comments improve implementation of the RAF. It is or concerns. too early to assess the full and longer- term impact of the RAF and the projects approved under RAF funds. There are, however, many aspects that can already be evaluated, including the effects on roles, pipeline development and project approval, partners, and funding allocations. The MTR will also consider the reallocation of resources at mid-point (1 July 2008) that the GEF Secretariat will announce. The review will focus on the areas covered by the RAF ­ climate change and biodiversity - but will consider possible spillover effects to other focal areas as well. So far, the MTR team has consulted broadly with governments; local NGOs and Agencies during country visits, many sub-regional workshops; and Convention meetings. During June 2008, we will also conduct a survey among a broad range of stakeholders, including GEF Focal Points, field project staff, NGOs and Agency staff. This is an important input on actual experience with the GEF RAF. The survey will be sent out electronically; but you will also be able access it through the website www.gefeo.org. Your support and feedback will be greatly appreciated. National Dialogue Initiative: National and Sub-regional Workshops in Africa The latter was facilitated by multi- stakeholder working group sessions to discuss national priority issues in biodiversity, climate change, land degradation and POPs/water/waste, each chaired by Cameroon's respective convention focal point with assistance provided by a substantive expert from From 16-17 June 2008, Cameroon the team of GEF resource persons hosted a GEF National Dialogue in representing the GEF Secretariat and Yaoundé to strengthen the integration GEF Agencies. and impact of GEF Activities within their national sustainable development and Two other events GEF sponsored by the poverty reduction policies. The Country Support Programme (CSP) took Workshop was attended by some 60 place in Africa immediately following stakeholders representing government Cameroon's Dialogue: (1) the Sub- and civil society institutions, donor regional Workshop for GEF Focal Points institutions and the media, and took from West and Central Africa took place place at Yaounde's Botanical Gardens. in Douala, Cameroon from 19-21 June for 45 GEF Focal Points from 24 During the two day Dialogue designed countries and observer representatives to improve communications among from the GEF-NGO Network and national stakeholders on GEF related international NGOs, and (2) Sub- issues, participants: regional Workshop for GEF Focal Points from East and Southern Africa took assessed the lessons learnt and place in Windhoek, Namibia from 25-27 outcomes and impact of GEF activities, June for 40 GEF Focal Points from 22 drawing upon the ongoing GEF Country countries and observers from the GEF- Portfolio Evaluation prepared by the NGO Network. GEF Evaluation Office; Both Sub-regional Workshops: reached consensus on recommendations for strengthening introduced Focal Points to Cameroon's GEF national coordination the latest changes in the revised GEF mechanism; and Focal Area strategies, cross cutting initiatives, and funds available for reached consensus on the adaptation; framework and broad priorities for future GEF support based upon lessons learnt provided a forum for and national sustainable development countries to exchange their good priorities. practices in integrating GEF in national environment and development plans and policies, including coordination and priority setting for GEF co-funding; provided a forum for Focal Points to formally provide feedback during closed door sessions to the Midterm Review of the Resource Allocation Framework being undertaken by the independent GEF Evaluation Office; and reviewed the many tools available to support the work of the Focal Points in GEF4. For more information on the Sub- regional Workshops including agendas, lists of participants, presentations in English and French and photos, please visit http://www.gefcountrysupport.org/report _detail.cfm?projectId=219 (West and Central Africa) and http://www.gefcountrysupport.org/report _detail.cfm?projectId=220 (East and Southern Africa). Article prepared by Stephen Gold, Global Manager, GEF National Dialogue Initiative and Country Support Programme. New Focal Points and Council Members Belize Alegria, Martin Operational Focal Point Belize Rosado, Alexis Political Focal Point Benin Mama Gao, Séidou Operational Focal Point Bolivia, Alcoba Arias Beatriz Political Focal Point Bolivia Rojas Castro, Miguel Angel Operational Focal Point Italy Berardi, Gisella Council Member Mongolia Batjargal, Gunaajav Political Focal Point Namibia Shangula, Kalumbi Political Focal Point Nigeria Eze, Ozo Chidindu Operational Focal Point Tajikistan Zikirov, Khursandkul Operational Focal Point/ Political Focal Point New staff at the GEFSEC Patrizia Cocca Patrizia Cocca joined the GEF's External Affairs team on May 5 as a Communications Officer mainly focusing on revamping and maintaining the GEF website. An Italian national, over the past three years she has been living in Costa Rica, working as coordinator of the knowledge management and communication unit of the Regional Unit for Technical Assistance (RUTA), a multi-donor platform promoting rural development in Central America. Previously, she worked in the World Bank's EXT Development Communication (DevComm) division, focusing on free trade and rural development issues in Central America. Before joining the Bank, Patrizia was the portal manager of RaiUno (TV channel) and TG1 (TV News) at RAI, the Italian public broadcasting network. Prior to this she established and managed an Internet Solutions Provider in Rome, servicing small and medium enterprises. Patrizia holds a Master Degree in Global Marketing Communication and Advertisement from the Emerson College in Boston and an Advanced Degree in Modern History and Anthropology from Universitá La Sapienza in Rome. New Staff at the GEFSEC , Danielius Pivoriunas Danielius Pivoriunas joined the GEF's external relations team on June 16th 2008 as the Senior Operations Officer for Capacity Building. He was born and raised in Lithuania, graduated from the Lithuanian University of Agriculture with MSc and received PhD from the University of Vilnius, Lithuania. He was also a recipient of several international scholarships including Fulbright. Before joining the GEF, Danielius was working for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkmenistan. Serving as an Advisor and Program Manager, he had extensively advised on capacity building and environmental development cooperation at national and regional levels of Eurasia. Prior to joining the OSCE, he served as a Senior Manager in the Lithuanian Ministry of Environment where he managed the development of policies, programs and environmental legislation at national level and served as an expert for numerous international projects and programs. Danielius Pivoriunas brings wealth of experience and academic knowledge of capacity building, environmental policies and legislation development regionally, nationally and locally to the GEF. He likes philosophy, theater, music, and art. In his free time, Danielius is interested in learning the history of different cultures and traditions. NEW GREEN SPACE for GEF website survey - Help us STAP Secretariat and build a better website! UNEP/GEF Liaison Office The GEF is starting to design a new The STAP Secretariat and UNEP GEF's website with the goal of providing to our Washington-based teams will be moving users an improved service. July 1, 2008 to our new office at 900 17th Street, NW, Suite 506, Washington Please take the time to fill our survey. It DC 20006. will take only 5 minutes, but your answers and suggestions will allow us to The new space is being built out with a develop a better website that will view towards obtaining gold level LEED enhance communication and knowledge -Leadership in Energy and about the global environmental issues. Environmental Design certification ­ a Green Building Rating SystemTM. The survey is available in the home Whether we have achieved our goal of page of our website. Click Here to take getting the gold will be confirmed in survey now. October 2008. The LEED environmental certification system (for commercial interiors) is based on points in six categories, including: site sustainability, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and finally, innovation and the design process. The system is premised on minimizing the office's environmental footprint, maximizing cost effectiveness and giving rise to a healthy, productive place to work. We look forward to your visit, so please call us at +1 202-974-1311. Upcoming events Event Date Place GEF CSP Subregional 8-10 July 2008 Havana, Cuba Workshop for GEF Focal Points from the Caribbean Colombia GEF National 16-18 July, 2008 Bogota Dialogue Ecuador GEF National September 2008 Quito Dialogue (dates to be announced) GEF CSP Sub-regional September 2008 Venue to be announced Workshop for GEF Focal (date to be Points from the Pacific announced) Egypt GEF National Dialogue 7-9 October 2008 Cairo Pakistan GEF National October 2008 Pakistan Dialogue (dates to be announced GEF Subregional Workshop October 2008 Venue to be announced for GEF Focal Points from (dates to be Latin America announced) GEF CSP Subregional December 2008 Venue to be announced Workshop for GEF Focal (dates to be Points from the Middle East announced) and North Africa