The Small Grants Programme (SGP) is funded by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Established in 1992, the main objective of SGP is to finance and provide technical support to initiatives from local civil society and community-based organizations that address global environmental and sustainable development issues.
The SGP recognizes the importance of South-South and triangular cooperation at the local level, and their role in accelerating the achievement of the SDGs. Over the past 26 years, SGP has provided technical and financial support to over 24,000 community-based projects, with a total grant of $650 million.
Currently implemented in 125 countries, SGP promotes innovation and social inclusion, and fosters the development of solutions that produce global environmental benefits and address key sustainable development issues. Through these efforts, SGP helps countries to meet their commitments under key environmental conventions. By working directly with vulnerable communities, including indigenous peoples, women, youth, and persons with disabilities, SGP acts as a catalyst and facilitates peer-to-peer learning and mentoring among CSOs and local communities, and promotes their participation in decision-making processes.
On 22 May 2020, celebrating International Biodiversity Day in line with the 2020 theme ‘Solutions in Nature’, and in an effort to replicate and share good practices across regions and countries, SGP has created a special feature on SGP-supported nature-based solutions that have been shared among communities through South-South Cooperation (SSC).