CAIRO: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) held a week-long planning meeting at the Conrad Hotel in Cairo. Regional officers from 20 countries attended the conference to discuss current priorities of the GEF and to decide on the next round of programs, among other topics. We are in a whole new ballgame. Climate change is a no longer a hypothesis, but a serious fact, explains one conference participant. We are conducting this conference to discuss how to channel our finances and how other UN agencies can master money from the GEF. Established in 1991, the Global Environmental Facility assists developing countries fund projects and programs that conserves the global environment. GEF grants support projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, and the ozone layer. The UNDP, the development arm of the United Nations, is one of the GEF s three implementing agencies.
