The main goal of the meeting was to assess whether the PEMPAL Strategy 2012-17 is being effectively implemented, and to identify any issues or adjustments required in light of implementation experience in the past two and a half years. The main meeting was preceded by the parallel meetings of Executive Committees of all three COPs held on July 15th. These meetings discussed the matters related to implementation of the COP action plans.
The main meeting on July 16-17 was attended by 20 leaders of PEMPAL COPs representing 13 member countries (Albania, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Russian Federation, and Ukraine). Key development partners of the program represented in the Steering Committee (the World Bank, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, and SECO) also participated.
The agenda of the meeting included presentations summarizing the results at the network level, presentations of the COP results by each of the COP Executive Committees, as well as a panel session for the donors to share their views on the program. Main part of the agenda was devoted to the group discussions to review results and prioritize suggested areas of improvement for the remainder of the strategy period.
The PEMPAL Executive concluded that the original objectives of the PEMPAL Strategy remain valid and PEMPAL is making very good progress at all levels. The Executive therefore identified no need for changes in the formulation of the Strategy objectives.The main risk highlighted by the review was related to sustainability of the network beyond the current Strategy period. The agreed approach to addressing the sustainability risk requires clarification of strategic vision on the longer-term future of PEMPAL. It was decided that the vision for the next strategy should be formulated by June 2016 and endorsed at the next year's Executive meeting. Several decisions were also made related to specific actions within the existing Strategy, which were captured in an addendum which will be placed on the website next to the strategy (refer www.pempal.org/strategy) A table of prioritized actions was also agreed which will be implemented during the final years of the strategy to ensure the strategy's objectives are fully realized.
At the end of the main meeting, on July 17th, the PEMPAL Steering Committee met to endorse the decisions and recommendations made by the PEMPAL Executive.
Materials related to all meetings held are in the links below.