Minister of Environment, Laurentia Mallam, as the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Political Focal Point for Nigeria, will lead the country’s delegation to the Moon Palace Hotel on Mexico’s Mayan Riviera from 25th-30th May, 2014 for the 5th GEF Assembly.
The GEF Assembly is an international conference organised by the GEF every four years and plays the role of a Global Environmental Summit. The Assembly is the main governing body of the GEF with about 80 ministers and 1,500 delegates from 183 countries, civil society organisations (CSOs) and the Private Sector participating in a series of events that span over a week.
Key activities of the session will include High-level Roundtables and Panels, a CSO Forum, Side Events and the opportunity to visit GEF projects across the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The 4th GEF Assembly was held in Punta Deleste, Uruguay from 24th-28th May, 2010.
The GEF Assembly is one of the governing bodies of the GEF in which representatives of the 183-member countries participate. It meets once every four years to review and evaluate GEF policies, operations, as well as membership. The Assembly considers and approves proposed amendments to the GEF Instrument.
Nigeria is the most populous country in the West African sub-region and is among the countries in the region that is being supported by the GEF Trust Fund to address a myriad of environmental challenges.
GEF supports projects in the following focal areas: climate change, biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management, land degradation International Waters, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and ozone depleting substances. These projects are implemented as full and medium size projects, enabling activities to the Conventions as well at the community level under the GEF Small Grant Programme (SGP) which has resulted in successes some of which have been globally acclaimed and won awards such as the Equator Prize.
To date, Nigeria has implemented a total of 39 full size, middle and enabling projects while the GEF Small Grants has supported 113 projects through NGOs and CBOs. The implementation of GEF projects has benefitted Nigeria immensely from the various strategic relationships that have been developed and maintained over the years between the government and our development partners. The country’s partnerships with the body has contributed to the steady and growing increase in the GEF portfolio and profile, lending credence to the role of international partnership for development.
Therefore, as part of the preparation for Nigeria’s participation in the upcoming Fifth GEF Assembly, the GEF Office in Nigeria in collaboration with the GEF Implementing Agencies and GEF Project offices is planning to organise an exhibition of its experiences with GEF projects in the country.
Nigeria GEF officials hope the exhibition will further showcase the good works of GEF globally and in Nigeria in particular, enhance better understanding of the results of the projects and encourage further discussions and possible replication thereby contributing to GEF’s global transformational goals of addressing environmental issues.
Objectives of the exhibition are:
- Showcase GEF funded success stories and achievements in Nigeria over the past years;
- Share knowledge on the peculiarity of Nigeria and how GEF support has made a difference at all levels;
- Demonstrate the linkages between the reinforcing linkages between the different ranges of project sizes; and,
- Celebrate the existing strong partnerships with our partners that have contributed to the successes experienced.
