The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program (GEF-SGP) announces the 2021 “call for proposals” to award small grants of up to US$50,000 to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and community groups for the most innovative initiatives with applications expected to be submitted not later than August 31, 2021.
The grants forms part of core funds that the GEF-SGP has received under the GEF-7 to support Ghana to implement its priority programmes in selected geographical areas. Overall, the GEF highlighted 8 focal areas that prospective applicants must be operating to qualify for the small grant. The focal areas of activities include: Community-based conservation of threatened ecosystems and species as well as enhancing sustainable forest and agroforest landscape management for biodiversity conservation.
Meanwhile, the SGP will also accept applications from institutions or groups that operate in innovative agro-ecology models and mechanisms for conservation of carbon stocks in the forest and savannah land use.
Other areas include sustainable agriculture and fisheries, leading to food security; Low Carbon Energy Access Co-benefits; Improving governance of land management decisions and secured ecosystem; Reduction of GHG emissions in agriculture through climate-smart agriculture as well as Local to Global Coalitions for Chemicals and Waste Management.
Priority geographical areas
Meanwhile, the priority geographic areas are communities within the Black Volta Basin, especially in the Nadowli, Lawra, and Wa-West districts (Upper West Region), Banda, and Tain districts (Bono region), Bole, and Sawla-Tuna-Kalba districts and the West Gonja Municipal (Savannah Region).
Also, the SGP will provide strategic services to civil society and community organizations by enhancing their institutional, technical and financial capacities; develop platforms and networks; and expand partnerships and resource mobilization for scaling up.
Eligibility
According to the UNDP,applicants must be local non-governmental or non-profit organizations operating in Ghana with valid Registrar General’s Department and Social Welfare certificates; or must be a community group/ community-based organization, and/or social enterprise organizations recognized by the relevant District Assemblies and Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana.
Also, applicants must have relevant experience and proven records in working with communities and groups in environmental, forestry and or agricultural related activities and should be based or already have a working presence in the Black Volta Basin landscape.
The UNDP further noted that submitted project proposals should succinctly describe the problems related to the geographic area and must also explain how the proposed project objectives, outputs and activities would have a concrete impact and contribute towards the achievements of the identified problems.
Furthermore, the proposal must demonstrate how the project is aligned to the targets and objectives of the SGP Country Programme Strategy (CPS) and must show that projects are innovative, impactful and sustainable.
The UNDP noted that applications would be processed as and when they are received and successful applicants would be notified immediately. More information can be obtained from the UNDP website.
The GEF Small Grants since its inception, has supported 359 projects and developed the capacities of 310 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in four different socio-ecological production landscapes with a total grant of US$16.2 million.
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