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National GEF Coordination Antigua and Barbuda. Sub-regional Workshop for the GEF Focal Points in the Caribbean Nassau, Bahamas, 9 th – 11 th October 2007. Institutional Environmental Management. Over eight agencies Involve in Environmental Management; Over 40 pieces of Legislation;
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National GEF CoordinationAntigua and Barbuda Sub-regional Workshop for the GEF Focal Points in the Caribbean Nassau, Bahamas, 9th – 11th October 2007
Institutional Environmental Management • Over eight agencies Involve in Environmental Management; • Over 40 pieces of Legislation; • Each with their own budgets; • Covers over six Ministries; Seven Permanent Secretaries; and seven Ministers and Junior Ministers (Or Ministers of State); • Seven Heads of Department;
Environmental Management- Legal perspective • Over 40 pieces of Legislation; • Much of which has been in force for over 60 years and severely outdated; • Self regulation of Government Agencies – Fox guarding Chicken; • design of legislation inappropriate for SIDS
Options for Coordination • Minimization of the need for coordination by consolidation; • Create coordination committees; • Make coordination a legal requirement for Agencies; • New Institutions and New Legislations; • Leave everything the same and hope for the best;
Options for Antigua and Barbuda • New Overarching Legislation, with limited repeal of existing legislation; • Coordination Committee with Central secretariat; • Centralization of all GEF and MEAs Focal Point within one agency i.e. minimization of the need for coordination; • So a little bit of Everything
Benefits of this approach • Ruffle few feathers; • Consistent with political assignment of portfolios; • Cost was minimized; • Better coordination of international assistance; • Minimizes the impacts of staff turnover;
Benefits Cont’d • Antigua and Barbuda have had significant success in accessing GEF resources; • Capacity building steadily increasing; • Increase national influence of Environmental Issues; And • Increased profile at the international level – Chair of G77 2008.
Next Steps • Institutionalize coordination; • Improve communication and data access; • Increase capacity within Agencies within the Coordination group; • Increase Capacity of NGO and community groups; Thank You