25 Oct 2005 - The reception was opened by Griffin Thompson, a member of the REN21 Steering Committee, who welcomed delegates and informed them about the way in which REN21 had been set up. In closing he invited delegates to attend the forthcoming meeting in Beijing.

After a period during which delegates were able to meet and discuss among themselves, Paul Hassing, GVEP Board Chairman added his welcome to delegates.

He drew attention to a number of key events, the first of which was the setting up of the GAPfund. He told delegates that this has now been achieved and Winrock International have been appointed as the Manager of the activity and will be issuing a notice to all GVEP Partners before the end of October. He introduced Dick Jones who would be available to provide any further information.

He then mentioned that GVEP has been developing links with a number of other initiatives over the past year and first introduced Ray Holland who is the Manager of the Partnership Dialogue Facility of the EUEI and invited him to say a little about the Facility.

Next there followed the signing of three Memorandums of Understanding.

Firstly with Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), represented by Mark Lambrides who is Director of the REEEP Secretariat for Latin America and the Caribbean, and a GVEP Partner. This was followed by the Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD). Finally with CAIXA ECONOMICA FEDERAL who was represented by Jorge Fontes Hereda, Vice President of Urban Development

The first GVEP Awards Ceremony then took place. The first award was for the Best GVEP Partner in a Developing Country, which was sponsored by Noble Energy Solar Technologies of India, who's CEO is Mr. Barki. The award went to Fondacion Solar of Guatemala in recognition of their contributions to GVEP from its launch right up to the finalization of the Guatemala Action Plan. The South African Deputy Minister of Energy presented the award to Marta Riveira of Fondacion Solar.

The second award was for Best GVEP Partner in an Industrialized Country and was sponsored by ITC. The award went to Electricite de France in recognition of their contributions to GVEP objectives including through their Access programme and in providing resources to the Monitoring and Evaluation working group. Andrew Scott, a member of the GVEP Board, presented the award to Sarah Adams of the EdF Access Programme.

The third award was for Best GVEP Country Programme and was sponsored by SELCO Solar Light. The award went to Senegal in recognition of the way they have re-oriented their rural electrification programme to make links with wider development objectives. Harish Hande, CEO of Selco and GVEP Board member, presented the award to Aliou Njang from Senegal.

Finally Paul Hassing thanked departing Board members who leave following the recent elections, and welcomed joining Board members. He presented citations to Adelia de Melo Branco, Rachel Polestico, Griffin Thompson and Njeri Wamukonya. He then called up Ndika Charles Akong of Human Hope, Jose Carlos Gomes Costa of the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil, Matthew Mendis of IRG and Gordon Weynand of USAID. He also welcomed Gustavo Best of FAO and Kurt Hoffmann of Shell Foundation who were unable to attend the Assembly.

He closed by inviting delegates to continue enjoying the reception and thanking all for their participation.