Why national entities submitting an EDA pilot proposal should be prioritized in the GCF Accreditation Strategy

At the tenth meeting of the GCF Board (July 2015), the Accreditation Committee was requested to work on a strategy on accreditation, “examining efficiency, fairness and transparency of the accreditation process, and the extent to which current and future accredited entities will enable the Fund to fulfil its mandate.” This blog argues that for reasons of efficiency and fairness, the strategy will need to pursue two strategic objectives, namely:
1. achieving a fair balance between international and direct access entities, and
2. ensuring that the GFC is not suffocated by overwhelming numbers of accredited entities.

After examining the current state of affairs, the blog proposes that in the short-term, the most effective way to mitigate the existing imbalances (as well as to incentivise the “signature” Enhanced Direct Access modality) would be to grant top priority accreditation to nation-wide entities submitting an EDA pilot proposal.