A growing number of multilateral development organizations and international agencies are now using programmatic approaches to more effectively support developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Yet the programmatic approach is not a new modality for the Global Environmental Facility (GEF). At its meeting in December 1999, the GEF Council supported the evolution of GEF support to emphasize synergistic programs that transcend national borders. Since then, we have been dedicated to the principle that our focus should be on programs rather than just simply individual projects.