The LDCF follows the GEF public involvement policy approved by the GEF Council in 1996 and consistent with the provision of the Instrument for the Establishment of the Restructured GEF, which sets for explicitly the need for public involvement, the basic provisions of which state that all GEF-financed projects will “provide for full disclosure of non-confidential information, and consultation with, and participation of, as appropriate, major groups and local communities throughout the project cycle.” (p. 12, Basic Provisions, paragraph 5).

In addition, the Programming Paper for Funding the Implementation of NAPAs under the LDC Trust Fund further explicitly requires stakeholder consultation in the formulation of NAPAs and subsequent project implementation, which is supportive of high local involvement. Indeed, stakeholder consultations are the central feature of NAPAs, as clearly indicated in the Annotated Guidelines for the Preparation of National Adaptation Plans of Action which stipulate that the participation of men and women at the grassroots-level is essential for providing input on prioritization of actions given impacts affecting their communities, as well as current coping strategies that the NAPA seeks to enhance, following COP 7 Decision 28. The guidelines also stipulate that “[o]pportunities for the involvement of the private sector, NGOs and civil-society organizations should be sought” and recognize that the “engagement of people at the grassroots level will be important in ensuring successful implementation of NAPA activities.” Furthermore, stakeholder consultations are one of ten guiding principles of NAPAs.

As a result, this is reflected in the PIF and CEO Endorsement Request Forms for LDCF, where both have sections requiring input on stakeholder involvement. Therefore, this information is available for each project in the PIF and full project documents, which are available in the GEF Project Database.

Furthermore, since the LDCF operates through GEF’s ten Implementing Agencies, this means that the projects funded by these funds are further subject to the rules and operational policies that govern those Agencies, and this includes the Agencies’ rules and policies on local stakeholder involvement.