The first meeting of the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) Evaluation Working Group was held at IGES Headquarters in Hayama, Japan on12-13 November 2006, with the kind financial and logistical support of the Government of Japan and IGES.

Overall, the meeting can be judged as very successful. The evaluation report outline was revised, key elements to be included under each section were identified and organised, a timeline was set for the completion of the report and tasks were assigned. The Evaluation Working Group will next meet in February 2007 on the margins of UNFF/CLI (a country led initiative in support of the United Nations Forum on Forests) Meeting in Bali to report on progress and identify gaps.

Background
The Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) was established in 2002, with an initial duration of five years, ending in 2007. AFP Partners, at their 6th meeting (Jogjakarta, Indonesia, 6-8 September 2006) requested the AFP Steering Committee "to undertake an evaluation of the First Phase of the AFP and provide recommendations for the AFP’s future, for consideration at the AFP 7th Annual Meeting." Pursuant to that request, the AFP Steering Committee established an Evaluation Working Group. The Working Group met for the first time at IGES Headquarters in Hayama, Japan on November 12-13, 2006, with the kind financial and logistical support of the Government of Japan and IGES. The meeting opened at 13:00 on Sunday, November 12th, and closed at 17:00 on Monday, November 13th.


Participants
Participants included representatives of the Governments of Indonesia, Japan, and the United States, IGES, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) and the AFP Secretariat. Henry Scheyvens (IGES) chaired the meeting, and Charles Barber (US) served as rapporteur.

Agenda
The agenda covered the following items, each of which was subject to full and productive discussion:

	Review and revision of the draft terms of reference and outline for the evaluation document;
	Discussion and decision on the retaining of a consultant to assist the Working Group in carrying out the evaluation;
	Review of available background materials and information;
	Allocation of work among Working Group members;
	Review and revision of the time-line and review process for producing the document;
	Discussion and decision on next steps for the Working Group.