Global Environment Facility

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues. Today the GEF is the largest public funder of projects to improve the global environment. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants and concessional funding for activities related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, chemicals and waste in the context of development projects and programs.

The mission of the GEF Independent Evaluation Office (IEO) is to enhance global environmental benefits through excellence, independence, and partnership in evaluation. The GEF IEO has the central role of ensuring the independent evaluation function within the GEF. The GEF IEO sets common requirements for evaluation, ensures oversight of the quality of evaluation at program and project levels, and shares evaluative evidence within the GEF. The GEF IEO undertakes independent evaluations at the strategic level, focusing typically on cross-cutting themes, such as focal area-wide topics or integrated approaches. The office also undertakes institutional evaluations, such as assessing GEF governance, policies and strategies. The work culminates in the quadrennial Comprehensive Evaluation of the GEF.

The GEF IEO operates under the GEF Evaluation Policy of 2019. In fiscal year 2024, GEF IEO has 19 staff members (including 4 extended-term consultants), and an operating budget of USD 8.344 million.

Independence

As a result of the Second Overall Performance Study and replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, the GEF M&E Unit was made independent in 2003; it now reports directly to the GEF Council, the main Governing Body of the GEF. The GEF Monitoring and Evaluation Policy was revised in 2010 and underscored the independence of the Office and its direct link to the Council. The institutional independence has been further confirmed by the decision of the GEF Council in November 2013 to change the name of the Office to the GEF Independent Evaluation Office (GEF IEO).

The GEF IEO is independent from both the policy-making process and the delivery and management of assistance to guarantee that data gathering and analysis and judgments on criteria, findings, and recommendations will not be influenced by conflicts of interest or undue interference by management at any level. The Secretariat, Agencies, and other affected parties may receive, comment, and respond to the draft and final reports, but do not have the right to approve, hold back, request changes, or otherwise modify such draft and final evaluation reports. The Director issues final evaluation reports directly and simultaneously to the GEF Council and the GEF CEO without any prior clearance from anyone.