Building Environmental Citizenship to Support

Transboundary Pollution Reduction in the Danube:

A Pilot Project in Hungary and Slovenia

• Brief introduction to our experience

• Key lessons

• Positive experiences/good practices

• Recommendations for improvements

NGO Executing Agency Experience

Key Lessons

• Considerable resources necessary to prepare a proposal– Time– Human resources– Implications for small and medium-sized NGOs

• Evolving experience with NGO execution by NGOs and by GEF/UNDP

Positive ExperiencesGood Practices

• Reduced GEF process time for project approval• UNDP/GEF staff generous with time/support• NGOs now provided training

– proposal development – understanding GEF procedures

• Establishment of NGO contact person• Multi-stakeholder involvement in proposal

development

Challenges/Needs Raised by Our Experience

• Paperwork Simplification• Need to integrate GEF & UNDP paperwork

requirements & budget formats• Need for further simplification, especially

for small and medium-sized NGOs• Realistic financial support for preparation &

writing

Suggestions for the Future

• More up-front training for potential NGO executing agencies

• Network NGOs for experience (consider compensation)

• Simplify/Expedite

• Procedures for NGO co- executing agencies where appropriate

– Supports multiple stakeholder approach

– Increases NGO visibility & experience