GEF officials during an forum
The Philippines, through the Foreign-Assisted and Special Projects Service (FASPS) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) conducted a two-day multi-stakeholder dialogue last January 18 and 19 at Grand Hyatt Manila, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. More than 200 representatives of the national government agencies, local government units, civil society organizations, the private sector, GEF secretariat and implementing agencies attended the event. The dialogue centered around the National Portfolio Formulation Document (NPFD) that contains the final list of proposed GEF-8 projects of the Philippines.
“The Philippines deeply values this exercise to design the integrated approaches needed to address the intersectionality between development, climate change, biodiversity, and disaster resilience; adopt a comprehensive risk management approach and optimize the resources available to improve the quality of life. This system lens will ensure that no community and ecosystem is left behind,” Atty. Analiza Rebuelta-Teh, Undersecretary for Finance, Information Systems, and Climate Change and GEF Operational Focal Point, said on behalf of DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga.
FASPS Assistant Director Ma. Sabrina Cruz, Mr. Ariane Fornazo and Ms. Gilda Garibay of UNDP talk about UNDP's project implementation experiences
Meanwhile, FASPS Assistant Director Ma. Sabrina Cruz, together with GEF representative Verona Collantes, facilitated the Fireside Chats. A more relaxed, less filtered, and less formal type of discussions (“kuwentuhan”) on the sideline of the GEF national multi-stakeholder dialogue, it explored the impact of GEF on women and indigenous peoples (IPs) on the ground, the scaling up and widening of reach of GEF with civil society organizations (CSOs) as partners, and the furthering of development with the private sector. It also allowed implementing agencies such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Conservation International (CI), and peoples’ organizations (POs) to share their experiences in the implementation of their projects and their priorities, plans, and programs. (FASPS/ Jaeshienne Therese Payumo)
