Who we are

CAFI is as a collaborative partnership that gathers:

Central African partner countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon
A coalition of donors: the European Union, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and the United Kingdom
Brazil as South-South partner

Partner commitments are formalized through the signature of the CAFI Declaration.

CAFI's support is channeled through a Trust Fund managed by the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office.

What We Do

CAFI is a unique initiative that supports strategic, holistic and country-level REDD+ and Low Emission Development investments while focusing on Central African high-forest cover countries. Its objective is to recognize and preserve the value of the forests in the region to mitigate climate change, reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable development.

CAFI’s objective will be attained through substantially scaled-up international support to transformational reforms and ambitious investments on the ground.

CAFI's support focuses on :

developing and implementing National Investment Frameworks (NIFs) endorsed at the highest level by national institutions with cross sectoral mandates
providing funding based on the achievement of policy and programmatic milestones that are spelled out in letters of intent
encouraging donor coordination and alignment of bilateral assistance to partner countries based on NIFs
promoting inclusive participation of all stakeholders

How we work

CAFI country dialogue has several phases:

Partner countries develop and present their national investment frameworks addressing all drivers of deforestation and forest degradation
Following a review of the national investment framework, the CAFI Executive Board (EB) agrees to support certain policy reforms and large scale programs
Through a Letter of Intent (e.g. with DRC) the CAFI EB and the partner country government, represented by a government institution with interministerial coordination mandate, agree on timebound targets in policy reform and programmatic performance and the corresponding financial support by CAFI if jointly defined milestones are met
Partner countries develop and implement programs to achieve the milestones in the Letter of Intent with the support of implementing organizations

To support this process management is carried out at three levels:

The Executive Board, supported by a small Secretariat, is responsible for overall coordination with CAFI Partner Countries and decisions regarding the allocation of resources from the CAFI Fund
UNDP’s Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office is responsible for administering the CAFI Fund
UN agencies (including FAO, UNDP), the World Bank and bilateral cooperation agencies (such as the French Development Agency, AFD) serve as implementing organizations to access funding from the Trust Fund and assist CAFI Partner Countries.

To ensure flexibility, CAFI governance arrangements combine the light oversight mechanism of the CAFI Executive Board with a country-specific emphasis, either through the existing MPTF-managed National Fund of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or directly through new country National Programmes (Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea).

For more detailed information see the CAFI Fund Terms of Reference and the 2015 and 2016 Annual Reports of the CAFI Fund.

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Donors and members

Seven countries or organizations have now signed on to the CAFI Declaration, hence committing "to ensuring better coordination and harmonisation among themselves and to mobilising resources for the implementation of national investment frameworks developed by Central African countries".