Call for proposal 2022-2023- GEF SMALL GRANT PROGRAM (SGP)
The GEF Small Grants Programme-UNDP is accepting proposals in the five thematic areas:
1- Biodiversity
2- Land degradation
3- Climate Change
4- International Water
5- Chemicals
Deadline for proposals submission is Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
For further information please contact Mr. Adnan Melky on 00961 3 641174
or Ms. Rebecca Baissari on 00961 70 717350
or by email to: adnanm@unops.org or rebeccabaissari@hotmail.com.
The GEF Small Grants Programme, provides communities and civil society organizations with grants to enable them to implement projects in the focal areas of:
– Conservation of biodiversity: in protected areas, critical forest ecosystems, and
conservation of biodiversity related to sustainable agriculture.
– Climate change mitigation: by reducing the percentage of greenhouses gases emission.
– Prevention of Land degradation and soil erosion.
– Protection of International Waters.
– Reduction of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)/chemicals.
Types of projects:
Under priorities and focal areas mentioned above, grant is awarded to projects with the following activities:
Support planning and participation of the community: The maximum grant is US $ 2,000. The project aims to involve the community in determining the actual situation and developing plans to improve it.
Pilot projects: including projects with innovative ideas and application of appropriate techniques and technologies, feasibility study of these projects, encouraging project replication and scaling up.
Capacity building: aims to build the capacity of NGOs (training, technical support…) to implement local activities within the priorities and focal areas of interest of SGP.
Monitoring and analysis: includes support of associations and research centers (especially universities) in projects that aims at assisting in monitoring existing projects, documenting successful projects, and drawing lessons learned.
Networking, policy discussion and information dissemination: including projects that support dissemination of information on successful projects, networking projects that provide joint work among all stakeholders, and projects related to advocacy to correct policies
The maximum grant for one project is $ 50,000, as well as the maximum limit for one proponent is $ 50,000.
Project Selection Criteria
The applicant must:
Have experience, credibility and good governance (transparency, democracy, acceptance from the community and have previous experience in the field).
Be representative (public committee, NGO, research center or academic institution).
Coordinate with other local partners (public committees, NGOs, municipalities, private sector, youth clubs, women’s associations, etc.).
Have the ability to write narrative and financial progress reports and to propose ways to modify and evaluate the project.
Be a non-profit, non-governmental body.
Have a bank account.
Documents required
– Official license /legal registration (علم وخبر) for more than two years.
– Last minutes of meeting for the election of the president and board.
– Financial reports for the past two years.
– List of previous similar projects and information on their management and execution
– Annual activities reports for at least 2 years
– In the case there is a need for the approval, co-financing or partnership with a third party for the implementation of the project, signed documentation of partnership, co-financing or approval from the third party should be submitted (for in-kind or in-cash) for example lease of property or office, etc. The documentation should include legal proof that the signatory (person o institution) is duly authorized.
Project specifications
Priority is given to projects covering the following specifications:
Address an environmental focal area from the five GEF priorities as mentioned in section III.
The project should aim to:
– Meet urgent local needs.
– Create job opportunities.
– Serves a marginalized area
– Encourage partnerships and exchange of information among stakeholders (government institutions, private sector, academic institutions, international institutions, and NGOs …)
– Have an impact on policy making
– Meet national environmental priorities
– Contribute to:
o sustainable human development
o Contribute to capacity building of the concerned organizations
o poverty reduction
o Women empowerment
Tools and method of implementation
– To adopt a strategy to engage the community and attract support for the project
– To adopt innovation and replication in other regions
– Adopt appropriate technology (environmentally friendly)
– Take into account gender equality
– Include consultations with stakeholders
– Continue after the completion of the implementation period
– Be able to secure additional funding from other sources
– To be in line with other projects supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and UNDP projects
Project components
The project must:
– assess the environmental impact of the project
– contain a monitoring and evaluation plan
Administrative and Formal Requirements
– The project implementation period should not exceed 18 months.
– The participation of the program in financing the project should not exceed $ 50,000
– The project proposal document should be submitted according to the template prepared by the program
– the project proposal should include:
The required documents related to the project (official license, written commitment, contracts, and documents of ownership or lease of real estate …)
The expected project results and impacts that can be measured based on well-defined indicator
The contributions of the proposed project from other sources of funding should equal the amount required from SGP (50% in kind contributions and 50% in cash contributions)
Grant process (5 phases)
Phase I – Call for proposals:
Announcing selection criteria and call for participation (through the media, the relevant ministries and holding meetings …)
Contact the proposed project associations with the SGP National Coordinator to obtain project guidelines and application forms for the proposal.
Preparation of the project proposal paper explaining the project in brief and submission to the National Coordinator using the template form.
The National Coordinator shall review the proposals taking first into consideration GEF focal areas and other criteria adopted by the SGP national steering committee (NSC).
The association shall submit the full project proposal if the project meets the required
conditions by January 31, 2023 at 12 noon.
Phase II – Review of proposals:
The National Coordinator shall review the proposed project documents and prepare a preliminary assessment of their compliance with the basic formal standards, and therefore exclude projects that do not meet these criteria.
The National Coordinator shall present the full and qualified project proposals to the National Steering Committee of the Program.
The National Steering Committee shall review, approve or reject the proposed projects or return them back to the proposed entity in order to add or make changes or clarifications related to the formulation of the project.
Phase III – Final selection:
Approval of the projects by the National Steering Committee
Inclusion of projects approved in the national action plan (NAP)
Signing of an agreement between the Grantee and the Program, represented by the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program
Phase IV – Training:
Training grantees on program requirements during implementation
Phase V – Financing payments – include three or four installments paid:
at the beginning of the project
after submission of a first progress report with a financial report
after the submission of the second progress report
after completion of the project on the basis of a final report and a final financial.
