2nd GEF Biennial International Waters Conference

1
2nd GEF Biennial International Waters Conference

• Sept. 25-29, 2002
• Dalian, China
• Implementing Agency Perspectives
• UNDP-GEF
• Andy Hudson, Principal Tech. Advisor,
  International Waters

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• GEF IW regional programs can be a vehicle to
  foster multi-country understanding, communication
  and cooperation between countries where it
  otherwise may not have been occurring (Nile,
  BCLME, Tumen, Gulf of Aqaba, etc.)

3

• TDA/SAP approach to addressing TB issues has been
  further tested and refined and is clearly now
  well-established as an effective modality for
  catalyzing protection and rehabilitation of
  shared waterbodies in a way that is integrated,
  cross-sectoral and has broad stakeholder
  involvement.

4

• Beyond TDA/SAP, GEF has tested other successful,
  more local approaches to environmental
  management, such as PEMSEAs use of demonstration
  and replication of ICM sites, GloBallasts use of
  demo sites to test and replicate ballast water
  management strategies, and Jordans Gulf of Aqaba
  EAP. Challenges remain to integrate local
  initiatives with broader scale approaches such as
  LME and river basins.

5

• Inter-agency cooperation in GEF IW programming,
  among IAs, the expanded EAs, and other UN
  agency and donor partners, has contributed
  significantly to the recent progress made by the
  GEF IW portfolio. Important examples included
  the Danube-Black Sea S.P., Red Sea SAP, Pacific
  SIDS, PEMSEA, etc.

6

• Across the board, GEF IW projects have made very
  strong commitments to broad stakeholder
  involvement in project implementation, using a
  variety of approaches, from stakeholder inclusion
  in relevant committees, to small grants programs,
  to awareness raising activities. This attention
  to seeking and incorporating stakeholder views
  and involvement bodes well for the institutional
  and political sustainability of GEF catalyzed IW
  programs.

7

• The GEF IW portfolio is showing increasing
  success in leveraging financial, institutional
  and political commitments by governments, donors
  and other international institutions. This
  leverage can be seen in numerous examples such as
  the Danube-Black Sea S.P., the Bohai Sea program,
  the PIC Oceanic Fisheries and others.

8

• LMEs are emerging in acceptance as management
  framework for sustainable marine resource
  management, but more remains to be done to
  increase awareness, acceptance and application of
  the LME approach.

9

• Implementation of GEFs IW programme is
  accelerating and has made tremendous progress
  over the last two years since we met in Budapest.

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Some fresh IW process indicators

• No. of IWC2002 participants 186
• No. of countries represented 62
• No. of IW projects represented 55