Deadline: 31-Oct-23
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) is announcing a call for proposals from civil-society organizations (CSOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) to apply for grant funding opportunities.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) is a corporate programme of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) since 1992.
Goal
- Climate resilience is built in the Asia and Pacific regions through inclusive community-based and locally-led adaptation.
Thematic Areas
- Water security and resource management: Access to clean water and sanitation is and economic enabler and is vital to building climate resilience. However, many communities across the Pacific and Southeast Asia regions still lack basic water access. Climate change, which directly impacts the water cycle, acts as a multiplier of the risks of water scarcity by increasing the variability and unpredictability of water resources. Thus, sustainably managing water resources is a critical aspect of the CBA programme.
- Oceans and coastal zone management: For SIDS and Southeast Asia LDCs the coastal zone is an area of high economic activity and high population density, but these areas are also harshly exposed to sea level rise, storm surges, coastal erosion, and extreme weather events such as hurricanes and cyclones. NBS such as mangrove restoration and rehabilitation of coastal vegetation are commonly used to adapt to these challenges and will be employed in this new phase. Using a landscape approach, initiatives will also focus on managing saltwater intrusion, improving coastal freshwater supplies, sustainable fisheries and marine conservation, and participatory mapping exercises to identify coastal assets and resources.
- Agriculture, fisheries and food security: Droughts, flooding, shifting seasons and increased variability in rainfall and temperature patterns continue to affect agricultural production across the globe. These impacts are even more severe for smallholder farmers. For rural farming communities this can lead to food insecurity, poverty, poor health, nutrition and wellbeing. To cope with these challenges CBA projects will invest in sustainable agro-ecological production techniques to boost productivity and income generation, improve ecosystem services, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, where possible.
- Land degradation: CBA projects will focus on nature-based solutions (NBS), agro-ecology and sustainable land management practices to improve ecosystem services and address some of the drivers of land degradation and other environment challenges at the community level.
- Disaster risk reduction (DRR): DRR takes a systematic approach to adapting to climate change induced hazards with a focus on preventing these hazards from evolving into full-fledged disasters. It includes a wide range of adaptation activities, such as risk and vulnerability assessments, utilizing early warning systems, improving multi-sectoral communication and collaboration, and education and awareness. DRR, disaster management and preparedness will be a cross-cutting theme in this new CBA phase.
Cross-Cutting Themes
- In addition to the core thematic areas, the following cross-cutting themes will also be integrated across the of CBA projects:
- Enhancing socio-ecological resilience and productivity of landscape and seascapes.
- Supporting nature-based solutions grounded in cultural and societal values around the protection, conservation and restoration of ecosystem goods and services.
- Prioritizing social inclusion and traditional knowledge- the CBA programme will ensure that interventions are socially sensitive and inclusive and that women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities are actively brought into the CBA process as key agents of change.
- Building organizational, technical and management capacities and raising awareness.
- Broader adoption of CBA approaches at local and national levels: the programme will align projects to National Adaptation Plans and ongoing NDC implementation to ensure that they are relevant and complementary to national climate and development initiatives. By working with local authorities, national governments and other partners, the programme aims to strategically and systematically mainstream CBA lessons and best practices in local and national planning and development processes. This will facilitate mainstreaming, replication, policy influence, scale up and sustainability of successful locally led projects and approaches across landscapes. Projects previously funded under MAP and SIDS CBA or through regular SGP projects can be scaled up and replicated under CBA Phase 3.
- Ensure that projects contribute to livelihood development, income generation and livelihood diversification, these activities will help to build resilience and promote project sustainability.
- CSO-government-private sector dialogues and platforms will serve as a space to bridge the gap between local communities, local governments and the private sector and to provide opportunities for communities’ voices to be heard, their needs to be understood, and their challenges to be recognized and addressed by various decision makers at local, regional and national levels. Dialogues will support establishment of durable partnerships and networks with key local, national and regional stakeholders to support broader adoption of CBA approaches. Each CBA project should establish linkages and build relationships with key stakeholders. Dialogues can also be used to facilitate knowledge transfer, sharing of best practices and key lessons among grantee networks via per-to per exchanges.
Funding Information
- The maximum grant amount obtainable per project is US$ 30,000. However, in exceptional cases US$ 50,000 may be considered
Project Duration
- Maximum duration is 24 months.
Outcomes
- The goal of the CBA programme will be supported by three programme-level outcomes:
- Socio-economic and climate resilience is enhanced in select landscapes/seascapes through implementation of locally-driven CBA solutions.
- Local communities and CSOs are capacitated for effective CBA and LLA implementation, knowledge sharing, and policy representation at national levels.
- CBA solutions and innovations are replicated, scaled up and mainstreamed at the local and national levels.
- CBA and LLA approaches integrate principles of ‘leaving no one behind’ with an emphasis of inclusion of women and girls, Indigenous Peoples, youth and persons with disabilities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Civil society organizations (CSOs) with priority for national and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations (CBOs) and scientific communities, advocating for the rights of persons with disability, women, and children.
For more information, visit UNDP.
