The two-day workshop on the National Awareness Workshop on the Global Environment Facility (GEF)/ Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS) was jointly organized by the Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) and UNDPGEF Small Grants Programme. It was held on the 3rd and 4th of July, 2010 at Hotel Taj Tashi, Thimphu. There were 53 participants including the resource persons attending the workshop. The workshop participants included representatives from all relevant government agencies, private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), UNDP and the media. The workshop was formally opened by the Chief Guest, Dasho Nado Rinchen, a member of the Royal Privy Council. Read more>>

The Annual Review and Planning Workshop for the UNDP Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) supported projects was held on 24th and 25th June, 2010, Paro. The representatives/office bearers of community-based groups, NGOs and relevant government agencies participated in the workshop. There were 35 participants. The workshop was organized and co-financed by UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme and the Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) which is the operational focal point for GEF in Bhutan.

The UNDP GEF SGP has implemented 27 projects during the OP 4 starting from 2007 till 2010. Most projects have been successfully completed while others are still in the process of implementation. Fe!
w projects have run into unexpected problems and constraints in the process of project implementation. Some of these projects were implemented under the aegis of various NGOs in the country viz: Tarayana, National Women

The National Steering Committee (NSC) for Climate Change, Water and Environment related programmes and projects including GEF and other focal areas of Desertification/Land degradation, UNFCCC, Biodiversity have been formed mainly to coordinate and provide policy guidance and technical backstopping to stakeholders/agencies involved in the implementation of programmes/projects under the above mentioned thematic areas.

The NSC members comprises of UNFCCC focal person, biodiversity focal person, desertification focal person, Ministry of Finance, Department of Geology & Mines, PPD, Ministry of Agriculture and operational and political focal persons. The mandate of the NSC include

Bhutan became a member of GEF on 12 December 1995. The first assistance was the receipt of the US$ 10 million grant to the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation from 1992 to 1996.

A unique feature of the GEF is that it finances only the incremental cost of the project: it is therefore mandatory to secure co-financing for any GEF Project. Another feature is that GEF provides preparatory financing for the development of project proposals.

In Bhutan, the UNDP Country Office presently manages GEF-funded projects on behalf of GEF. All GEF supported projects are executed based on national execution modality. The programmes/projects are formulated in line with the priorities of the Royal Government of Bhutan.

As per the guidelines of the GEF, each country needs to appoint political and operational focal point. The Ministry of Foreig!
n Affairs is the political focal point and the GNH Commission is the operational focal point for the GEF in Bhutan. The function of the political focal point is to participate in the overall functioning of the GEF, while the operational focal point is to co-ordinate GEF activities at the country level.