Gefsgp.org
Title
Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme
Description
The GEF Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP) was launched in 1992 by UNDP. The GEF/SGP provides grants of up to US$50,000 and other support to community-based groups (CBOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for activities that address local problems related to the GEF areas of concern. Since its inception, the GEF/SGP has funded over 2300 projects in Africa, North America and the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, the programme is operational in 60 countries.
The GEF/SGP recognizes the essential role that households and communities, applying locally appropriate solutions, can play in conserving biodiversity, reducing the likelihood of adverse climate change, and protecting international waters. The programme operates on the premise that people will be empowered to protect their environment when they are organized to take action, have a measure of control over access to the natural resource base, have the necessary information and knowledge, and believe that their social and economic well-being is dependent on sound long-term resource management. However, the GEF/SGP is more than simply a fund that provides small grants to improve the local environment. By raising public awareness, building partnerships, and promoting policy dialogue, the GEF/SGP seeks to help create a more supportive environment within countries for achieving sustainable development and addressing global environment issues. The principle objectives of the Small Grants Programme are to:
Draw lessons from community-level experience, and support the spread of successful community-level strategies and innovations among CBOs and NGOs, host governments, development aid agencies, the GEF, and others working on a larger scale;
