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Posted: Saturday 30 July, 2016 at 4:25 PM

Small Grants Programme to assist in environmental matters

GEF- SGP logo
By: SKNIS, Press Release

    Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 29, 2016 (SKNIS):  Community groups looking to play a greater role in the protection of the environment can now access funds to implement such projects, through the Small Grants Programme (SGP), which opened its office on West Independence Square Street.

     

    The SGP seeks to help groups to generate sustainable livelihoods, reduce poverty in their communities and create community empowerment. 
     
    Ilis Watts, National Coordinator - SGP, explained the criteria for funding.
     
    “For projects to qualify for grant funding they must be linked to at least one of the SGP focal areas, bring benefits to the people affected , particularly women and youth,  be sustainable, and be capable of replication,” said Ms. Watts. [They must also] “Be capable of scaling-up, i.e. the project can grow and become bigger over time; and show in-kind contribution and co-financing from the applying group or other development agencies.”
     
    She explained the organization’s role after projects have been approved for funding. 
     
    “After projects are approved and funds disbursed, the SGP has an important role to play in monitoring the projects to ensure that they are completed on a timely basis and within the stipulated budget,” she said, while adding that the office offers or facilitates training for groups in various areas of project management and environmental management.
     
    Ms. Watts added that the programme started with a fund of US$1 million and has allocated just over US$850,000 for projects in St. Kitts and Nevis.  
     
    “In the upcoming phase of the programme from 2016-2019, just over US$600,000 will be available for groups to apply for,” said the National Coordinator. “Of note, the programme has an aspect it refers to as “grant-maker plus” where efforts are made to link groups with additional funding from other sources, local or international.”
     
    To date, the programme has approved and provided funding for twenty projects on St. Kitts and Nevis in the areas of recycling; agroprocessing using solar energy; climate smart agriculture (shade house establishment and water for agriculture); Turtle Conservation; Biodiversity Conservation; Flood Mitigation; and public awareness programmes using the performing arts.
     
    The Programme which began operation as a stand-alone project during 2013, is intended to support community-level initiatives across the range of global environmental issues addressed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). 

    The SGP has local affiliation with the Ministry of Sustainable Development, through the GEF Operational Focal Point and the Department of the Environment. It is directly managed from New York and Denmark United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Previously, it was administered out of the United Nations Development Programme Office for Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) but was decentralized to each OECS Member State from about 2012. 
     
    According to data from https://sgp.undp.org/, the SGP was established in 1992, the year of the Rio Earth Summit. The GEF Small Grants Programme embodies the very essence of sustainable development by "thinking globally acting locally". By providing financial and technical support to projects that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing people's well-being and livelihoods, SGP demonstrates that community action can maintain the fine balance between human needs and environmental imperatives.
     
     
     
     
     
     

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