Small Grants Programme(SGP)
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was designed to assist developing contries to deal with five main environmental problems: global warming, pollution of international waters, destruction of biological diversity, depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer, prevention of land degradation and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The GEF was established in November 1990 by a group of developing and industrialized countries. It is co-managed by the World Bank, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Un ited Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Under the GEF is a Small Grants Programme managed by the UNDP for developing countries. It supports small-scale activities that address the above-mentioned concerns initiated by community groups, peoples organizations and non-governmental organizations.
The development goal of the GEF Small Grants Programme is to secure global environmental benefits in the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, protection of international waters, prevention of land degradation, and phasing out of persistent organic pollutants through community-based initiatives and action.
Launched in 1992, SGP is rooted in the belief that local solutions to global environmental problems exist and have been successfully implemented through the programme while at the same time recognizing that there is still an unrealized potential to enhance the impact of the programme within the GEF system as a whole.
In thirteen years of operation, SGP has worked with thousands of community-based organizations (CBOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 97 countries in five world regions: Africa, Asia/Pacific, Arab States, Europe/CIS, and Latin America/Ceribbean.
SGP has operated in a decentralized, democratic, transparent, and country-driven manner, through National Coordinators and National Steering Committees.
The programme has paid special attention to local and indegenous communities and gender concerns, and aimed for the replication of sustainability of its initiatives. As such, the programme has influenced national policies and donor agencies by increasing awareness of global environmental issues and communicating lessongs learned, including best practices from community-based experiences.
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