UNDP-Burundi: Call for Project Proposals for GEF/Micro Finance Program

Deadline: 21 September 2018

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) / Global Environment Facility (GEF) / Micro Finance Program (GEF / PMF) has launched a call for proposals from local NGOs and community-based associations for environmental conservation programs that aim to help general environmental interests through the implementation of grassroots initiatives, which also generate local interests. The environmental areas concerned are climate change, soil conservation, biodiversity, the conservation of international waters and persistent organic pollutants.

Project Bidding Organizations / Associations must be community-based organizations or a local NGO approved and recognized by the authorities and must be based in the proposed project area. Local community-based associations are a priority for project submission. These local associations or NGOs must be organizations promoting the conservation of natural resources while at the same time improving the standard of living of the local population.

National Priorities

The national priorities are:

Land and waterscape Cohoha – Rweru
Land and water landscapes Mugere – Nyamusenyi
Other sites outside the landscapes

Funding Information

The GEF / Micro Finance Program funds only micro-projects in the environmental sector whose budget requested from the GEF / Micro-finance does not exceed USD 50,000.

Eligibility Criteria

The Local Organization / Bidding Local Association must be a Community Organization of Base (OCB) or a local approved and recognized local Burundian NGO, an institution involved in community-level initiatives, aimed at promoting the conservation of natural resources by improving at the same time time the standard of living of the local population.
The GEF / PMF finances only environmental sector projects whose priority areas are:
- Conservation of Biodiversity;
- Climate Change;
- Protection of international waters;
- Soil conservation / reforestation;
- Reduction of Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Project activities submitted to the GEF / SGP must relate to at least one of the GEF / SGP priority areas. Otherwise, the project can not be funded by the GEF / SGP. Projects dealing with more than one area and those with links between these different areas of interest are of great interest to the GEF / SGP.
The proposed activity should reflect the general interests of the environment by:
- The potentiality of replicability;
- The ability to achieve significant impacts beyond the time and the area in which the beneficiary community is located.
- The possibility of adoption of activities by the public at large.
Projects that develop partnerships between different actors and other groups and that also develop co-financing opportunities are particularly attractive to the GEF / SGP.
The project must be feasible and sustainable. This should be achieved in particular through:
- Self-financing, mobilization of resources (financial and technical) from other sources and / or
- Community contribution to the project (in kind, cash, labor).
Gender-sensitive projects, youth or local and vulnerable populations with a view to improving the capacity of these target communities and meeting their needs are encouraged.
Priority will be given to projects that meet the national environment strategy. The project must be technically and financially viable, relevant in terms of cost / feasibility, and must have an institutional framework for implementation. The project implementation period must not exceed 2 years.
Projects should focus on development but not research. Projects must prioritize the needs of local communities in addition to GEF / SGP priority areas.