CENN, the GEF’s Regional Focal Point for the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), has launched an outreach campaign aimed at increasing membership of the GEF’s NGO Network in Central Asia. The GEF-NGO Network is calling on all eligible NGOs to join the Network and contribute to the development of international and regional environmental policy.
The GEF
The GEF unites 182 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. Today the GEF is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
The GEF-NGO Network
The GEF-NGO Network is a network of NGOs, CBOs and Indigenous Peoples Organizations that are committed to the goals of sustainable development and environmental protection. The organization works to facilitate civil society inputs to GEF processes. The GEF-NGO Network comprises nearly 450 member organizations with experience and expertise in GEFs areas of work from all regions around the world. The objectives of the GEF-NGO Network are:
1. To enhance the role of civil society in safeguarding the global environment
2. To strengthen the GEF Program implementation through an enhanced partnership with civil society
3. To maintain and enhance the capacity of the GEF-NGO Network
The EECA region of the GEF-NGO Network
The EECA region of the GEF-NGO Network covers the countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. In May of 2011, CENN (the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network) was elected the Regional Focal Point of the GEF-NGO Network in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The GEF-NGO Network offers members the opportunity to attend meetings and influence the decision making at the world’s biggest funder of environmental projects, the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
For more information please visit www.gefngo.org
[Press release GEF-NGO Network, 3 May 2012]