Support for country capacity development is an integral part of the Global Environment Facility, with a focus on strengthening the capacities of countries to manage their priority environmental issues and contribute to global environmental benefits.

Each of the GEF modes of delivery (Full and Medium-sized Projects; Small Grants; and Enabling Activities) aims to incorporate some form of capacity development. Since 2002, the direction of capacity development work has been set by the GEF Strategic Approach to Enhance Capacity Building, one of the outcomes of a major review carried out in 1999-2000, the Capacity Development Initiative. Under the GEF Strategic Approach, a first Pathway of support, the National Capacity Self-Assessment (NCSA), was provided to GEF programme countries to make a self-assessment of their capacity needs and prepare a national capacity action plan.

Between 2002 and 2006 a total of 152 countries have engaged in the NCSA programme. Each country receives support in the form of an Enabling Activity grant and guidance to follow a standard process of situation analysis, capacity needs assessment, and capacity development planning over a period of between 1-3 or more years. The results and lessons learned from the NCSA programme are summarized in the 2010 report.