By Grace Q. Bryant
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is expected to host a four-day Global Environment Facility Constituency Workshop (ECW) in Liberia.
The Constituency Workshop will be followed by a two-day National Dialogue from February 19-20, 2024 at Cape Hotel in Monrovia.
The dialogue is expected to bring together 70 participants from 38 institutions from government’s line ministries, agencies and commissions, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), civil society organizations (CSOs), community members, academic and research institutions, the private sector, as well as donor partners and superintendents from the 15 political subdivisions.
Speaking in a press conference at the office of the EPA, the Executive Director, Wilson K. Tarpeh, explained that the workshop will discuss current issues relating to climate change, biodiversity, desertification, international waters, chemicals, and other related environmental issues affecting Liberia.
According to him, the workshop is expected to bring together GEF agencies and focal points, convention focal points, and CSOs, as well as other key stakeholders to discuss and review policies and procedures and share lessons and experiences from the development and implantation of GEF projects and their integration within national policy framework.
Director Tarpeh observed that the ECW was competitive among the constituency member states in 2022, and by March 2023, it was announced that Liberia and Ivory Coast were the two selected countries amongst which one could be chosen
“Fortunately, Liberia was selected to host the ECW. Several schedules were put up but changed due to different national circumstances, including the country’s national elections,” he said.
He added that in October 2023, the GEF requested that the meeting be relocated to another country, due to the electoral process in Liberia. However, Liberia appealed because the meeting would be a very good beginning for the incoming government.
“The appeal was accepted and the meeting has been finally scheduled for February 13-16 2024. All necessary arrangements surrounding this meeting, including hotel accommodation, feeding, foreign travel, etc., have been fully completed by the GEF in collaboration with the Environmental,” he noted.
According to Director Tarpeh, the Global Environment Facility (GEF), as the financial mechanism for the Paris Agreement, is the international organization that provides funding to support environmental projects worldwide.
The GEF National Dialogue, therefore, is a platform for stakeholders in a country to come together and discuss environmental issues, including national objectives, policies, strategies, and the means to achieve them.
The GEF activities are normally a component of National Dialogues, insofar as the GEF Partnership is one of the sources of financing and support available to the country.
Liberia’s GEF partners include the World Bank, African Development Bank, UNDP, FAO, and Conservation International. This year’s national dialogue objective is to discuss the $8.63M allocation.
The Dialogue agenda is designed to raise awareness of national stakeholders about the GEF to build capacity for elective implementation of Liberia’s GEF portfolio, as well as strengthen the GEF national coordination mechanism through ideas and best practices.
It will also identify and elaborate national priorities under the GEF thematic areas for the remaining period and discuss preliminary areas of interest for GEF.
At the end of the Dialogue, participants will identify projects for possible funding under the GEF System of Transparent Allocation of Resources (Star) GEF8, which is $8.63 million.
The distribution is as follows: Climate Change, 2 million; Land Degradation, 2 million, and Biodiversity, 4.63 million.
