What is it?

The Small Grants Programme (SGP) is an institutional initiative of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented and managed by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 

In 2003, the Government of Argentina expressed interest in joining the SGP through UNDP in Argentina. Following this, in May 2005, a mission from the Global Committee of Core Pre-Deployment Training Materials (CPTM) visited the country and engaged with UNDP Argentina, the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of International Relations, and various NGOs. Together, they agreed on a work plan for implementation, and the programme was officially launched in Argentina in 2006.

Since 2006, the SGP has been a valuable experience, being used in 257 projects since its inception, with a total of USD 7.340.385 granted in donations, with a counterpart of USD 2.423.125 in cash. Between 2013 and 2019 a total of 128 projects were funded, with a multiplicity of organizations with resources provided by the Programme and the counterparts of the beneficiary organizations. This allowed an estimated of 50.000 families to improve their life conditions and, at the same time, contribute to the defence of the constitutional right that every citizen must live on a healthy environment, based on local actions and initiatives of conservation and sustainable development.

Between 2015 and 2019 (GEF6) the Micro-Donations Programme has awarded grants equivalent to USD 2.870.000, which USD 800.000 have been sourced from CORE, USD 1.520.000 from STAR and USD 550.000 from GSI-ICCA. Through these contributions from GEF, projects have been developed with CSOs in the Northeastern region of Argentina, and thanks to the contributions from GSI-ICCA projects with indigenous communities have been funded all over the country, related to safe water accessibility, biodiversity conservation, generation of renewable energies, use of natural resources as a means of livelihood through the preservation of the environment, fight against soil degradation, initiatives of sustainable family agriculture and management of watersheds, among other environmental achievements.

During 2021, given the COVID 19 emergency context, the SGP has adapted to an online sphere, launching two calls for proposals through virtual platforms for Civil Society Organizations (CSO) projects in twelve provinces: Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Chaco, Santiago del Estero, Formosa, Jujuy, Salta, Catamarca, Tucuman, and Neuquen.

As a result of the two 2021 calls, the Steering Committee approved sixteen  Territorios y Áreas Conservadas por Pueblos Indígenas y Comunidades Locales (TICCA) projects for a total of USD 296.040 in cooperative donations and twenty-eight initiatives that receive USD 515.994 in donations from GEF SGP.

The execution of such projects has produced important environmental changes in places where they have been conducted, achieving scalable impacts across diverse initiatives. It is of relevance to highlight that innovation and public-private partnerships are two successful aspects of the programme. Furthermore, the SGP contributes to the achievement of global environmental benefits, considering that most of the initiatives have ensured its sustainability within time and the possibility of replicating it.

The mentioned projects have achieved social benefits for both recipients and stakeholders reached, not only in positive cultural changes, but also in relation with its way of thinking and interacting with the environment. The potential of generating a behavioural changes and consciousness in new generations for the promotion of a sustainable way of life represents a significant impact. 

The methodology of the SGP in Argentina has been successful in facilitating the development of capacities, that also guarantees an improvement of means of subsistence on a local level, introducing complementary incomes, like in ecotourism, the use of native species for its production, consumption and product development. For this matter, the SGP encourages the creation of public policies that contemplate successful models built within the programme, for its replication on a national and intersectoral level.

From an institutional perspective, the SGP in Argentina has allowed the creation of a web of participants in the various regions in which they have acted, inviting to an exchange of experiences and information, as well as a valuable guidance, that constitutes a vehicle for the development of capacities in their communities, benefiting thousands of families, including indigenous communities, smallholder farming communities and residents of peri-urban areas in small towns of this region. It strengthened the institutionality and capacity of NGO management and CSOs.

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