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Through the Financial Information Engine on Land Degradation (FIELD) the Global Mechanism is progressively building up and maintaining comprehensive inventories of financial resources, needs and flows to combat desertification to the benefit of all stakeholders (Decision 24/COP.1, Decision 25/COP.1, Decision 11/COP.1 and Decision 9/COP.3).
These inventories capture information on various aspects of UNCCD financing, including funding agencies and amounts available, eligibility criteria, funding terms and conditions, priorities, application modalities, contacts, as well as co/financial needs, programme and project components, duration, outcomes, lessons learned, good practices and other relevant data.
For example, a document on resources available for commitment in a given fiscal year, will be described by: title, name of the funding agency(ies), amount available for commitment/disbursement, period of validity, allocation or priorities, eligibility criteria, contact details, etc. In addition to this structured description, or "metadata", links or references to the original documents or other sources of information are provided.
Some of these descriptors can be used as search criteria to retrieve relevant information. A simple search by keywords allows for example to list all data related to a given topic, country or institution. By combining several search criteria it is possible to refine the selection, and therefore easily obtain the desired information.
Moreover, all the information contained in FIELD is classified according to a classification matrix, which has been designed with the objective to facilitate the identification of relevant data from external sources, and its subsequent codification and retrieval by the FIELD users.
Objectives
The rationale behind the Global Mechanism's endeavour to collect and disseminate information is to ensure a rational use of existing resources for the implementation of the UNCCD, to identify gaps in resource flows, and to facilitate implementation of the action programmes.
By improving access, classification and circulation of relevant information, FIELD not only increases transparency on the status and prospects of UNCCD financing, but also permits the identification of resource gaps and leads to a better co-ordination of initiatives for implementing UNCCD in the affected areas.
For this reason, the GM is positioning FIELD at the heart of its resource mobilization strategy, since it facilitates partnership building and the matching between demand and supply of funding for combating desertification.
Specifically, FIELD allows to perform financial analyses aimed at detecting trends and monitoring funding patterns, which can be effectively used to support decision making, to undertake knowledge-based initiatives and to evaluate their results.
FIELD is intended to provide valuable background information to the policy dialogue between affected developing countries and their development partners. It enables, for example, financial institutions to target resources to support innovative approaches in combating desertification and applying interdisciplinary technical solutions and institutional arrangements aiming at sustainable results.
One of the main comparative advantages of the FIELD system is that relevant data is collected "at the source" in close collaboration with the data owners (e.g. sources and recipients of funds and technical assistance). In this connection, the Global Mechanism is carrying out pilot activities with numerous countries and institutions in order to test the design of the system, verify its functional efficacy, and ensure that it responds to the requirements of the stakeholders. Pilot activities are also intended to test data collection methodologies and define cost-effective knowledge-management procedures that can be maintained over time.
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