Preparation Guidelines For The Stage 1 Application Form For

preparation guidelines for the stage 1 application form for accreditation as a gef project agency these preparation guidelines for the

Preparation Guidelines for the
Stage 1 Application Form for
Accreditation as a GEF Project Agency
These Preparation Guidelines for the Stage 1 Application Form for
Accreditation as a GEF Project Agency provides information and
instructions on completing the Stage 1 Application Form Template for
Accreditation as a GEF Project Agency and provides guidance for the
additional Supporting Documents that should be included with this
application form. The template is locked to allow the pull-down menu
to function. To unlock, click on the podlock icon found in the toolbar
.
Section I: Background Information
Under “Classification of Applicant,” entities applying for
accreditation (hereafter referred to as Applicants), should identify
which type of agency they are by selecting one of the following
options in the pull-down menu.
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National Institution;
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Regional Organization;
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Civil Society Organization;
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UN Specialized Agency or Program;
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Other International Organizations.
Applicants should fill in all of the fields of the box included in
Section I, including the Name of the Applicant, the Contact Person and
their contact information, the Applicant’s postal address, etc. All
documents shall be sent via email to [email protected].
Section II: Support by GEF Country Operational Focal Point
As indicated in the Summary Instructions, a GEF Operational Focal
Point (OFP) Support Letter is an integral part of the Stage 1
Application. The Applicant should fill in the summary information on
the GEF OFP Support Letter in the box provided. This summarizes the
record of support for the Applicant to serve as a GEF Project Agency.
The Applicant will need to attach an original copy of the OFP Support
Letter with its Stage 1 application form and the letter must include
the appended Project Idea Summary Note. This letter is to demonstrate
that at least one GEF country Operational Focal Point supports the
submission of the application and the Applicant and OFP have agreed on
a topic for an initial GEF project with an indicative amount of
resources to be allocated from the STAR1 country allocations. Please
note that this initial project idea and the allocation amount is
indicative only; they are meant to demonstrate the intention of an OFP
to allocate minimum required resources to work with the Applicant
should the Applicant become accredited as a GEF Project Agency.
Section III: Core Value-added Review Criteria
All Applicants need to fill out Section III. The answers to these
questions will provide the significant portion of the information that
the GEF Secretariat will use to score the value added of Applicants
according to the Value-added Review Criteria as agreed by Council. The
Secretariat will also provide this information to the GEF Council when
recommending which Applicants should be approved to move forward in
the accreditation process. The Secretariat will assess the applicants
using the methodology and criteria described in GEF Council Document
Broadening the GEF Partnership under Paragraph 28 of the GEF
Instrument, GEF/C.40/09, pages 6-13.
Unless otherwise noted, each Applicant should answer each question,
paying due regard to how the Applicant meets the specified criteria.
Applicants should provide documentary evidence supporting their
answers in most cases. Applicants may do this either by including the
link to a document(s) on a publicly available website or by including
a copy of the document(s) with the application form.
*
For instance, when describing how the Applicant’s mission is
relevant to the GEF, the Applicant could include the link to the
Applicant’s mission statement, a founding legal document (which
specifies a GEF-relevant mission statement), or recent Applicant
strategy documents.
The sections below offer examples of the types of documents that an
Applicant should include to support its answers.
A : Relevance to GEF
This sub-section requests information concerning the first Core
Value-added Review Criteria: Relevance to the GEF. This criterion
assesses the degree to which an applicant's mission and/or areas of
work a line with the GEF's mission, it's focal areas, and other GEF
issue areas, including climate change adaptation, sustainable forest
management, and sound chemicals management.
Question 1: The Applicant should describe how its mission is relevant
to the GEF’s.
Supporting Documents: Founding legal document that makes its
GEF-relevant mission clear, a document with a board-approved mission
statement, or relevant Applicant strategy documents.
Question 2: The Applicant should explain when it was established.
Supporting Documents: A document that shows when the Applicant was
established.
Question 3: The Applicant should describe the focal areas and other
GEF issue areas (e.g. climate change adaptation) in which it is
engaged.
Question 4: The Applicant should describe its experience in executing
GEF projects (funded through the GEF Trust Fund, LDCF, or SCCF). In
this answer, the applicant should list projects implemented or
executed over the past five years in each focal area and total
financing allocated for each project.
Question 5: The Applicant should describe its experience in
implementing or executing environmental and/or climate change
adaptation projects financed by funders other than the GEF.
In this answer, the applicant should list projects implemented or
executed over the past five years in each focal area, specifying the
financiers of the project and total financing allocated for each
project.
Supporting Documents for Questions 3, 4 and 5: Official documents that
describe projects implemented or executed by the Applicant in each of
the relevant focal areas/issue areas, preferably over the past five
years. These documents should list the financiers of the projects and
the amount allocated by each financier for each project.
Note: Only the following types of agencies need to answer questions 5
& 6: International CSOs, UN Agencies and Programs, and Other
International Organizations.
Question 6: The Applicant should describe how it will be able to bring
additional, specialized expertise to the GEF that is relevant to the
GEF's mission and which the GEF might not already have available to it
through its existing network of Agencies.
Question 7: The Applicant should describe how, through its existing
operations, it will be able to help the GEF fill possible gaps in its
portfolio. This could be in terms of sectors or issue areas that the
existing GEF Agencies might not be addressing adequately. It could be
in terms of types of countries where the existing GEF Agencies have
not been able to meet existing needs - for example, Small Island
Developing States (SIDs) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs). Or, it
could be in terms of regions where the existing GEF Agencies have been
unable to meet needs, for example: regions with large numbers of SIDS
and LDCs.
Supporting Documents for Questions 5 and 6: Applicants may provide
documents that it believes will be help the Secretariat score its
application.
B: Demonstration of Environmental or Climate Change Adaptation Results
This sub-section requests information concerning the second Core
Value-added Review Criteria: Demonstration of Environmental or Climate
Change Adaptation Results. This criterion assesses whether the
Applicant has a track record of achieving clear, positive
environmental benefits in its areas of engagement relevant to the GEF.
This criterion also considers if the Applicant seeks to holistically
integrate social, cultural, economic, environmental and/or political
dimensions in its work, whether the Applicant seeks to incorporate
gender equity in all aspects of its work and pursues a path of
improving the general quality of the groups and communities that it
works with is also included in this criterion.
Question 8: The Applicant should describe how it has achieved clear,
quantifiable environmental results (global environmental benefits as
defined by the GEF) through the projects it has implemented or
executed in areas of engagement relevant to the GEF. The description
should explain how the Applicant has contributed to improving the
global environment or has helped communities and countries adapt to
climate change.
Supporting Documents: Applicants may provide documents that it
believes will be help the Secretariat score its application.
Question 9: The Applicant should give examples of clear, quantifiable
GEF relevant results that it has helped achieve through five of its
projects and should include quantified descriptions of the results.
Question 10: The Applicant should list the outcome ratings for these
five projects implemented or executed by the Applicant, as
demonstrated in project implementation reports, donor supervision
reports or mid-term evaluation reports for on-going projects, and
terminal evaluation reports for completed projects. The Applicant
should describe the outcome rating system used by the rater.
Supporting Documents for Questions 9 and 10: Terminal Evaluation
Reports, or equivalent, for completed projects. Project Implementation
Reports, or equivalent, for projects under implementation. It is
preferred that Applicants provide documents from independent
evaluators or project supervision entities (e.g. independent
evaluation office, financier of the project responsible for
supervision, etc.).
C: Scale of Engagement
This sub-section requests information concerning the third Core
Value-added Review Criteria: Scale of Engagement. This criterion
assesses whether the applicant is likely to have the capability to
implement or execute a project at least at the level of the GEF grant
that it will be seeking for the first project that it expects to
implement. This first project and the amount of the GEF grant are
indicated in the GEF Project Concept that is attached to the OFP
Support Letter.
Question 11: The Applicant should describe the average size of the
projects (e.g. in terms of amount of financing) that it has either
implemented or executed over the past five years. The Applicant should
only count financing that it had under its control in determining the
amount of financing for each project.
Supporting Documents: Annual reports or other official reports listing
projects financed, including project terminal evaluation reports or
official project implementation reports that list the financing for
the Applicant’s projects.
Question 12: The Applicant should describe the largest size of the
projects (e.g. in terms of amount of financing) that it has either
implemented or executed over the past five years. (The Applicant
should only count financing that it had under its control). The
Applicant should include the evaluation rating (for completed
projects) or implementation rating (for projects under implementation)
for this project. If the evaluation rating is not available, then the
Applicant should provide evidence of the results achieved or that are
being achieved through the project.
Supporting Documents: Annual reports or other official reports listing
projects financed, including project terminal evaluation reports or
official project implementation reports that list the financing for
the Applicant’s projects. Evaluation or implementation reports from
independent entities (e.g. independent evaluation office, Applicant
supervising project, etc.) are preferred.
Question 13: The Applicant should describe the volume of projects
(e.g. in terms of number of projects) that the Applicant has either
implemented or executed in total over the past five years.
D: Capacity to Leverage Co-Financing
This sub-section requests information concerning the fourth Core
Value-added Review Criteria: Capacity to Leverage Co-Financing This
criterion assesses whether the Applicant has the capacity to leverage
co-financing for projects at a meaningful level in the context of the
GEF. Applicants will also need to demonstrate an ability to commit
their own resources to GEF projects; this will be assessed based on
past performance on its projects2.
Question 14: The Applicant should indicate the average amount of total
financing that it has used to finance its total project portfolio over
the past five years.
Question 15: The Applicant should explain how much of this total
financing over the past 5 years – in total and in percentage terms –
came from co-financing and how much of it came from the Applicant’s
own resources. For national agencies “own resources”, can include
other domestic resources. For all other agencies, “own resources”, may
only include resources included as part of its budget. The Applicant
should present aggregated statistics on the co-financing it has raised
or leveraged for its total project portfolio over the past five years.
This should include statistics on the co-financing total and the ratio
of its own financing to total project co-financing.
Question 16: The applicants should provide a breakdown of co-financing
leveraged by the Applicant over the past five years by source.
Question 17: The Applicant should list the sources of financing for
each of the five projects listed under subsection “B” above. The
Applicant should present aggregated statistics on the co-financing it
has raised or leveraged for these five projects. This should include
sources of co-financing, statistics on the co-financing total and the
ratio of its own financing to total project co-financing for each
project.
Supporting Documents for questions 14, 15, 16, and 17: Implementation
reports, terminal evaluation reports, or other reports and documents
listing such financing and co-financing.
E: Institutional Efficiency
This sub-section requests information concerning the fifth Core
Value-added Review Criteria: Institutional Efficiency. This criterion
assesses how efficiently the institution converts inputs into outputs.
Reflecting approaches within the GEF, this criterion has two primary
sub-criteria: (a) administrative efficiency and (b) project cycle
efficiency. Important characteristics of an efficient institution are
it documents a track record of continued efforts to improve efficiency
and that it considers cost effectiveness in decision making.
Question 18: The Applicant should describe and provide evidence of
measures implemented by it to enhance efficiency over the past five
years. The Applicant’s answer should particularly focus on control of
administrative costs and improving the efficiency of Applicant’s
project cycle (the cycle used to develop, appraise, and approve
projects).
Question 19: The Applicant should list its total administrative costs
and total project funding for each of the past five years. It should
include descriptions of what is included in each amount, with
breakdowns for each sub-category of expense or project financing type
(e.g. grant, loan, guarantee, etc.)
Supporting Documents for questions 18 & 19: Annual Applicant
administrative budget documents for the past five years. Official
documents, reports, evaluations that describe the Applicant’s reform
efforts in recent years aimed at enhanced efficiency. (If available,
evaluations from independent entities preferred.)
Question 20: The Applicant must explain how long it usually takes for
it to bring a project from the stage of concept development to
approval. (Either by the Board or management, whichever is
applicable). Evidence should be provided for each year for the past
five years.
Supporting Documents: Official reports or evaluations describing how
long it takes for the Applicant to develop and approve projects.
F: Networks and Contacts
This sub-section requests information concerning the sixth Core
Value-added Review Criteria: Networks and Contacts. This criterion
assesses whether the Applicant has at its disposal networks of
collaborators and experts, at the regional and/or national levels,
such as civil society organization (CSOs), with which it could
collaborate on the implementation of GEF projects.
Question 21: The Applicants should explain the range of organizations
and experts with which it regularly collaborates on the implementation
of environmental and/or climate change adaptation projects. This
should be broken out, as relevant to the organization, to the
national, regional, and international/global levels, such as CSOs,
with which it could collaborate with on the implementation of GEF
projects.
Supporting Documents: If not covered by the documents provided for
other answers, the Applicant can accompany its narrative statement
with relevant reports that describe its collaborations and
partnerships as they relate to its projects.
Question 22: The Applicant should describe whether it has provided
resources to other organizations to execute projects under the
Applicant’s supervision. If not included in the above projects, the
Applicant should describe the evaluation or implementation rating of
this project. If not available, please describe how this project
achieved global environmental benefits or adaptation benefits.
Supporting Documents: If not included in the documents on projects
that have been provided by the Applicant, please include documentation
on these projects, including terminal evaluation reports or
implementation reports. (Reports from independent parties favored.)
Note: Only International NGOs need to answer question 23.
Question 23: The Applicant should describe how it has collaborated
with local NGOs and CSOs at the national level in GEF recipient
countries. Specifically, The Applicant should describe how it has
built the capacity of local organizations in as clear and as
quantified a manner as possible.
Supporting Documents: Any relevant published reports, if available.
Note: Only Regional Organizations need to answer questions 24 & 25.
Question 24: The Applicant should describe how it has either helped
build regional capacity to address global environmental concerns or
capacity to adapt to climate change at the regional level.
Supporting Documents: Any relevant published reports, if available.
Question 25: The Applicant should describe the network of contacts and
collaborators in the region and in countries in the region, including
with governments, NGOs, CSOs, scientists, etc, as relevant to the GEF.
Supporting Documents: Any relevant published reports, if available.
Note: Only UN Agencies and Programs and Other (non-regional)
International Organizations need to answer question 26.
Question 26: The Applicant should describe how it has built capacity
to address global environmental issues or capacity to adapt to climate
change at the national and regional levels, as relevant.
Supporting Documents: Any relevant published reports, if available.
Section IV: Additional Value-added Review Criteria for specific types
of Agencies
The following additional criteria and standards will be used to assess
the value-added of the following types of Applicants: National
Institutions, Civil Society Organizations/Non-Governmental
Organizations and Regional Organizations. Rating will be conducted in
a binary manner: each applicant will either receive either a “pass” or
“fail” rating for each criteria listed.
Note: Only National Institutions need to answer question 27 and 28.
Question 27: The Applicant should describe how the implementation
and/or the execution of projects relating to the global environment or
climate change adaptation is part of its core business.
Supporting Documents: Narrative statement.
Question 28: The Applicant should explain how it will help the GEF
enhance country ownership. Including how the implementation of GEF
projects by it will help to ensure that GEF funding is better aligned
with country priorities for the generation of global environmental
benefits, including as contained in country strategies.
Supporting Documents: Any relevant published reports, if available.
Note: Only Civil Society Organizations/Non-governmental Organizations
and Regional Organizations need to answer question 29.
Question 29: The Applicant should explain what GEF projects, or
components of GEF projects, it has previously executed under the
supervision of a GEF Agency. The Applicant should include the name of
the projects, the amount of GEF financing provided, and any
co-financing provided, including by the Applicant and by the GEF
Agency. If the projects have been completed, the Applicant should
provide the final evaluation rating of the projects. If the projects
are under implementation, the Applicant should provide the
implementation ratings.
Supporting Documents: Project implementation reports (for projects
under implementation or execution) or project terminal evaluation
reports (for completed projects), preferably from independent
entities.
1 System for Transparent Allocation of Resources
2 From the GEF’s inception through April 2011, the GEF Agencies have
leveraged co-financing at a level of 4.4 dollars for each GEF dollar
of GEF financing. There has, however, been critical variance in
co-financing among the focal areas. For instance, average co-financing
in climate change has been 1:6.2 whereas it has only been 1:1.6 for
persistent organic pollutants (POPs). For biodiversity, it has been
1:3.1. There has also been important variance among agencies. Because
some agencies might concentrate their work in certain issue areas, the
Secretariat and Council will need to take this variance into account
in scoring applicants and making decisions based on this criterion.
9
Stage 1 Application Form Guidelines November 2011