The Global Environment Facility of the Small Grant Programme at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP GEF-SGP) announces the 2023 "call for proposals" to award small grants of up to US$50,000 to non-governmental organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and community groups to adopt new approaches that are strategic, impactful, and will strengthen initiatives aimed at increasing resilience, ensuring inclusion of the most vulnerable groups (women, youth, and persons with disabilities), reduction of inequality and gender disparities whiles protecting natural resources. The 2023 grant award seeks to:

i. promote innovative solutions as well as traditional/local knowledge to safeguard the global environment;  
ii. systematically develop capacity and platforms among local communities, civil society groups, and other stakeholders as a key driver for environmental sustainability;
iii. focus on maximizing global environmental benefits (i.e , key biodiversity areas, clean technologies, etc.) through working with communities to revegetate the Black Volta landscape whiles developing local livelihood enterprises;
iv. strengthen and expand partnerships, particularly with government/policy makers and private sector as well as GEF and non-GEF programs, for scaling up and sustainability
 

At the community levels, the grant will complement the Ghana Government and the UNDP efforts and target strategic initiatives that will promote integrated approaches in addressing key global environmental issues. The priority activities to be funded will include: 

a. Community-based conservation of threatened ecosystems and species

The grants will focus on the sustainability of Indigenous and Communities Conserved Areas (ICCAs) (sacred groves), community plantations and woodlots, private protected areas, corridors, buffer zones, and CREMAs. The grant will seek to promote the sustainable use of biodiversity utilizing ecotourism processing of biodiversity products, food security, sustainable commodity value chain, and others. Support would be given towards making the existing CREMAs move beyond aid. The grant will facilitate partnership for effective utilization of the resources under the public-private sector partnership.

b. Sustainable agriculture and fisheries, leading to food security.

The grant seeks to build on the innovative climate smart agroecology to support sustainable and ecological agricultural production which provides food security, nutrition, and health benefits in addition to secure and sustainable livelihoods for small holder farmers, cooperatives, and artisanal fishers. The project should link local producers with better markets (national and international) sources and promote use of certification systems, and eco-labelling as the means. It should contribute to greening of supply chains for local products as well as generation of value addition for local producers. These initiatives should contribute to increasing ecological connectivity, reducing forest fragmentation, and improving forest biodiversity values at landscape levels. It should promote good management practices in community smallholder forestry and agroforestry and trees on farmlands and develop sound local level land management policy with the view to increasing agriculture resilience to climate change.

c. Low Carbon Energy Access Co-benefits

The grant will focus on grassroots energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions that can help meet the increasing demand for energy in a sustainable manner, while at the same time generating multiple co-benefits contributing to achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). It will support the mainstreaming of eco-certification sustainable woodfuel production and efficient renewable energy technologies within the landscape for improved livelihood. The approach in this initiative should be directed at providing access to affordable modern energy services necessary for development, while safeguarding environmental and social benefits.

d. Local to Global Coalitions for Chemicals and Waste Management

The grant will focus its support on plastics/solid waste management and will seek to establish systems of local certification of organic producers in vegetable through producer-consumer agreements and eventually graduating to national government policy that will influence markets. It will seek to promote alternative to mercury use in artisanal and small-scale gold mining by popularizing community mining concept as a model for small scale gold mining in Ghana. Activities will include support for innovative, affordable, and practical solutions to chemicals and waste management in joint effort with partners including government agencies, research institutions, private sector, and international agencies. 

Priority Geographic Focus

See application form for details. 

Eligibility

To qualify for the grant award, the applicant must:

• be non-governmental or non-profit organizations with legal mandate to operate in Ghana;

• be community groups/community-based organizations, and social enterprise organizations recognized by the relevant municipal/district authorities; 

• have relevant experience and proven records of 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 respective priority geographical areas;

• be the lead organization that should propose a plan of engaging governments, research institutes, communities, media, and other key stakeholders. University/research institutes can be engaged for the baseline analysis.

Time Framework:

Call for proposals are opened from the date of this advertisement until close of work of April 28, 2023. Only successful applicants would be notified. The full details on the call for proposal process, eligibility criteria, preferred bio-geographic areas, the project strategy, guidelines for applications, and project application document are attached this call. See proposal application form and project brochure for more information. 

However for any further information, please send request to george.ortsin@undp.org or lois.sarpong@undp.org; or write directly to the National Coordinator, UNDP GEF-SGP, P. O. Box 1423, Accra. Tel/WhatsApp. +2330505740909.