The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF/SGP) of the United Nations Development Programme in Nepal invites innovative project proposals from indigenous people-led civil society organizations (CS0s) or NGOs/CBOs that will support a broad spectrum of culturally- appropriate energy technologies in Indigenous Peoples territories, including those which combine modern science and traditional knowledge systems, with quantifiable measurements.

Priority Themes

- Priority will be given to projects that aim to do one or more of the following:

- Projects which scale up existing indigenous people-led pilot initiatives, including through impact investments and other forms of non-grant and blended finance;

- Projects that empower Indigenous Peoples to accelerate progress in renewable energy;

- Projects with multiple co-benefits, including greater community cohesion, which contribute to at least two or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);

- Projects that test appropriate renewable energy technologies in Indigenous Peoples lands and territories (i.e. micro-hydro, solar, wind, biogas etc.);

- Projects that establish economic incentives for Indigenous Peoples to partner with international efforts (i.e. bilateral donors, Green Climate Fund etc.) to recognize the role of their lands and territories with respect to climate change mitigation and adaptation;

- Projects that support integration and partnerships between ‘scientific approaches (such as remote sensing and geospatial monitoring institutions) and traditional knowledge systems, indigenous cosmologies and worldviews;

- Projects that seek to fulfill the recommendations arising from national action plans (i.e. UNFCCC NDCs, NAPAs, NAMAs), regional and/or sub-national energy strategies.

Funding Information

- An initial grant allocation of $100,000 will be allocated to each of the selected participating SGP country to cover a number of on-the-ground grant projects led by Indigenous Peoples.

Eligibility Criteria

- Applicants may request SGP OP7 grant funding up to $50,000 (or in exceptional cases up to $1 two years;

- SGP country programmes were there are significant numbers of under-served and remote Indigenous Peoples without access to clean and reliable energy;

- Proposals should be bold, innovative, and transformative, and have the potential for replication and scaling up;

- Proposals led by Indigenous Peoples which include strong social inclusion elements, including concern for gender equality and women’s empowerment, involvement of youth, and/or persons living with disabilities;

- All applications should explicitly state the plan for measuring and evaluating the impact of the work and show quantifiable results;

- SGP Country Programmes may leverage additional resources and partnerships with indigenous networks (e.g. co-financing with international foundations, NGOs and the private sector) at the programme and/or project levels.

Source: FundsForNGOs