Seventh SAPPHIRE Project Steering Committee - December 2023: Meeting Documents and Presentations

Date: 8 December 2023

Location: Maputo, Mozambique

In December 2023, the GEF-funded Western Indian Ocean Large Marine Ecosystems Strategic Action Programme Policy Harmonization and Institutional Reforms (SAPPHIRE) Project held its seventh Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting.  The meeting was convened in Maputo, Mozambique, concurrent with the 2023 Western Indian Ocean Science to Policy Forum. In attendance were Nairobi Convention and SAPPHIRE focal points. 

This project steering committee meeting came at a crucial project implementation period, seeing that the SAPPHIRE project is well into the second half of its project life. The purpose of this PSC was to update the Focal Points on SAPPHIRE’ demonstration projects’ progress and expenditure, and to present, discuss and get approval for the 2024 work plan and budget.

An item that was of paramount importance was the amendment extending the SAPPHIRE project's activity implementation end date to October 2024. The SAPPHIRE project’s financial closure is scheduled for April 2025. Furthermore, the project's overall budget underwent an amendment, with UNDP retaining an amount for mid and terminal evaluation costs, along with costs incurred by the Project Management Unit (PMU).

While speaking at the project steering committee, the SAPPHIRE Project Management Unit emphasized the need for countries to report co-finance annually, in line with funders' requirements. Members were urged to support implementing partners in meeting these reporting obligations.