EA/PAL: UNEP CAR/RCU

OTHER PARTNERS: UNDP-LAC-IW, Biodiversity & Land Degradation, World Bank LAC Environment & Sustainable Development, CEHI, IW-CAM project, Carib-LME project, Carib Contaminated Bays project, etc.

DESCRIPTION

This activity aims to enhance the implementation of regional subsets of the GEF IW portfolio by increasing the overall capacity of managers, transferring capacity from within these portions and from outside partners, and strengthening communication and learning exchanges across networks of GEF IW managers within these regions.

As indicated by the DeltAmerica MSP and the GEF-IW-LAC fora of the IW:LEARN pilot phase, facilitated dialog among different projects in the Caribbean geographic area may lead to improved efficiency and effectiveness. This activity facilitates discourse among GEF projects in IW and other focal areas. As such, it addresses STAP's 2004 discussion on such inter-linkages and supports the Barbados Programme of Action(BPoA) for the sustainable development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). With guidance from the IWTF, UNEP's Caribbean Environmental Programme (CEP) is well situated to realize this activity through its mandate under the Cartagena Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (1983). CEP will link projects across GEF focal areas in dialog over a 3-year period. This dialog for inter-project collaboration will be launched in conjunction with the fifth Inter-American Dialog on Water (IAD5) in fall 2005 and continue through facilitated electronic fora, a potential WWF4 side event in 2006, and a final face-to-face wrap-up event in 2008.

PROGRESS TO DATE