Global Environment Facility (GEF) - Small Grants Program

Climate Objective
Adaptation
Mitigation
Cross-cutting
Sectors and Themes
Agriculture
Cities
Disaster Risk Reduction
Education
Forestry and Land Use
Gender
Health
Industry and Infrastructure
Jobs
Nature-based Solutions and Ecosystem Services
Rural Development
Youth
Type of Support Provider
Multilateral
Type of Recipient
Non-profit or civil society organization
Community-level organization
Fund Size

Since its inception, SGP has provided over $724.91 million of GEF and other donor funds to over 26,429 projects around the world. In addition, over $876.94 million have been mobilized as co-finance to community-based projects.

Co-financing
No
Trustee or Administrator
World Bank
Contact Information
Countries
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Czech Republic
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Kuwait
Kyrgyz Republic
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Lithuania
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
North Korea
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Samoa
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Syria
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Region
East Asia and Pacific
Europe and Central Asia
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa

The Small Grants Program (SGP) is a corporate program of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) since 1992. GEF SGP grantmaking in over 125 countries promotes community-based innovation, capacity development, and empowerment of local communities and civil society organizations (CSOs) with special consideration for indigenous peoples, women, and youth.

The GEF SGP provides grants of up to USD 50,000 directly to CSOs and community-based organizations (CBOs) to undertake local projects that contribute to the global environment while generating sustainable livelihoods.

Since the programme’s inception, the SGP has provided more than USD 541.7 million in grants, complemented by more than USD 686 million in cash and in-kind co-financing.

Support Provider

Global Environment Facility

Purpose of Support
Project and program implementation
Financial Instruments Offered
Grants
Monitoring and Reporting Procedures

Recipients of grant support are responsible to conduct monitoring and evaluation (M&E) at three key stages of project implementation (i.e. project concept planning and proposal, project implementation, and project completion). They are also obliged to submit an annual report to SGP (UN-Environment) that includes the details from the M&E activities. More information about monitoring and reporting procedures here.

Organizational and Decision Making Structure

The SGP is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).

At the global level, the Central Program Management Team provides global oversight to SGP's global operations and decentralized country programs. Since 2011, the most mature SGP country programs have upgraded to full-sized projects and are managed by UNDP's Communities, Livelihoods and Markets cluster. These countries are: Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

At the national and local levels, SGP operates in a decentralized and country-driven manner through country program teams composed of a National Coordinator (NC), often a Program Assistant (PA), and a National Steering Committee (NSC) in each participating country. SGP country programs are hosted primarily by UNDP Country Offices, but also by national host institutions (NHI).

Eligibility Criteria

All project proposals submitted to SGP country teams need to demonstrate:

How the proposed project proposal meets the GEF SGP criteria by articulating how project objectives and activities would have an impact in the SGP areas of work -GEF focal areas-. For more information on this please visit our areas of work section.
How they respond or are aligned to the targets and objectives of the SGP Country Programme Strategy(CPS) of their country. Please visit your coutry page to download a copy of the CPS or contact the NC.
Be proposed by national CBOs and NGOs.

Eligible countries

Click here to see a list of SGP participating countries.

Please go through the eligibility test if you want to seek funding from this grant.

Eligible Countries and Geographic Regions
East Asia and Pacific
Cook Islands
Niue
Cambodia
China
Fiji
Indonesia
Kiribati
North Korea
South Korea
Laos
Malaysia
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nauru
Palau
Papua New Guinea
Philippines
Samoa
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Tonga
Tuvalu
Vanuatu
Vietnam
Europe and Central Asia
Albania
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Czech Republic
Estonia
Georgia
Hungary
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyz Republic
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Moldova
Montenegro
Poland
Romania
Russia
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Tajikistan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Ukraine
Uzbekistan
Latin America and Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Grenada
Guatemala
Haiti
Honduras
Jamaica
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Suriname
Trinidad and Tobago
Uruguay
Venezuela
Middle East and North Africa
Iran
Algeria
Bahrain
Djibouti
Egypt
Iraq
Jordan
Kuwait
Lebanon
Libya
Malta
Morocco
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Syria
Tunisia
Yemen
South Asia
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Bhutan
India
Maldives
Nepal
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Sub-Saharan Africa
Uganda
Angola
Benin
Botswana
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
Republic of Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Kenya
Lesotho
Liberia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Sudan
Tanzania
Togo
Solomon Islands
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Information on how to
Understand steps to access

The project proponent - a national CBO or NGO- contacts the SGP National Coordinator to receive project application guidelines and forms.
With assistance from the National Coordinator, the proponent prepares a brief project concept paper and submits this to the coordinator.
The national coordinator reviews and pre-screens the concept paper according to see if it meets the GEF SGP criteria and other criteria adopted by the NSC for activities in that country and explain in the Country Programme Strategy (CPS).
If the project is judged eligible, the project proponent prepares a project proposal; in some cases, this step may be supported by a planning grant.
Completed project proposals are submitted by the National Coordinator to the NSC.
The NSC reviews the proposal and either accepts it, rejects it, or returns it to the proposer with a request that further work be done on formulating and refining the project data.
Approved proposals enter the national SGP work programme. SGP grants are usually paid in three installments: an up-front payment to initiate the project; a mid-term payment upon receipt of a satisfactory progress report; and a final payment on receipt of a satisfac­tory project completion and final report.