Grants and Contributions

The Caribbean Organizations for a Resilient Environment project aims to increase the resilience of Caribbean Communities to the impacts of climate change. The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund works with the National Conservation Trust Funds in eight countries to implement local, nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The project provides small- to medium-sized grants to environmental and women-rights organizations that reach key ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs and forests, and increase ecosystem services that support Caribbean communities’ resilience to climate change. The project also addresses institutional capacity gaps within regional and local organizations to ensure the sustainability of community-driven climate resilience initiatives. At the same time, the project creates and strengthens innovative financing mechanisms for more sustainable climate financing in the region.

The ASEAN-Canada Plan of Action Trust Fund (TF) would be responsive in nature and provide targeted and timely assistance that responds to ASEAN and Canada’s priorities and promotes cooperation between ASEAN and Canada. The value of the TF would be up to $10 million over a period of 5 years and would complement existing Canadian programming by being an agile mechanism that allows for timely support to respond to evolving ASEAN needs. An initial Trust Fund would be $1 million.

This project promotes natural solutions to strengthen climate resilience and protect biodiversity. The project works with conservation partners, local communities, national and local authorities, and traditionally marginalized groups – particularly women. It seeks to integrate nature-based solutions into protected areas management and conservation interventions. The initiative aims to increase the resilience of ecosystems and people of all genders and social groups in selected countries to current and future climate changes. The project seeks to achieve this through three main areas of focus that include: (1) on the ground implementation of nature-based climate solutions interventions in protected areas to demonstrate their value as a means of improving community and ecosystem resilience; (2) integration of gender-responsive, conflict-sensitive and inclusive adaptation considerations, grounded in a human rights-based approach, into the management systems of protected areas; and (3) increased participation of women and marginalized groups in protected area management and decision-making. Achieving these would help meet national and global climate, land, biodiversity, and sustainable development commitments. Project activities include : (1) conducting, documenting, and disseminating research on the gender and biodiversity benefits of Nature-Based Solutions in each project site; (2) carrying out capacity- building workshops on Nature-Based Solutions design and implementation for protected areas managers, local authorities, and local civil society organizations; and (3) designing and implementing conflict-sensitive nature-based solutions for adaptation in selected protected areas.

The Natur'ELLES project aims to increase the adaptation to climate change of women and their vulnerable communities in the mangrove ecosystems of marine protected areas (MPA) of the Saloum and Casamance deltas in Senegal. SOCODEVI has established an operational and technical partnership with IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), as well as technical partnerships with IISD (International Institute for Sustainable Development) and Ostrom Climate Solutions. The activities of this project include: (1) supporting women's collective entrepreneurship projects maintaining mangrove biodiversity;( 2) developing a feminist environmental leadership and climate agency program for women in the Indigenous Community Heritage Areas and Territories; (3) supporting functional and financial literacy programs for vulnerable women in the Indigenous Community Heritage Areas and Territories; and (4) supporting community implementation of the MPA Ecological Restoration and Management Plans (ERMPs) based on Nature-based Solutions in the Indigenous Community Heritage Areas and Territories.

The project will contribute to the climate change adaptation of 8,000 people, including 6,000 women and their vulnerable communities in the mangrove ecosystems of the marine protected areas of the Sine Saloum and Casamance deltas in Senegal. It will reach more than 85,000 indirect beneficiaries in the 113 intervention villages.

This project with UNDP Iraq supports 40,000 inhabitants living in the Al-Chibayish district of the Central Marshes in Thi-Qar governorate in addressing the inter-relationship between human livelihoods and biodiversity protection in the Mesopotamian Marshes based on their reliance on a shared, water-based ecology.

Project activities include: (1) establishing a pilot rainwater catchment pond and green technology for water pumping, purification, and distribution will improve the quantity and quality of water available for people and livestock (2) providing alternatives to illegal fishing and poaching in marsh communities; (3) empowering women in leadership positions, as water managers, and participation through community outreach to spouses, and tribal and religious leaders; and (4) strengthening policies and procedures at local, governorate and federal levels to better monitor the management of natural resources in the Marshlands.

This project addresses the unemployment crisis among youth and women in Iraq by strengthening the capacity of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system. It contributes to economic growth and diversity by better aligning employer labour needs with appropriately skilled output from the TVET system. Project activities include: (1) providing technical assistance for creating and fortifying partnerships between the private sector and institutional partners around on-the-job training and safe internships in workplaces for all trainees; (2) issuing grants to support and incentivize employers to create innovative, inclusive and gender-responsive work environments proactively ; (3) providing relevant training and technical assistance to training institutes supporting equitable access to entrepreneurship support; (4) developing models linking graduates to business development and financial services; (5) providing technical assistance for blended learning approaches that extends the reach of training opportunities; and (6) promoting women’s participation in the labour force with social marketing campaigns aimed at women to encourage employment or entrepreneurship in growth and non-traditional sectors of the economy.

February 2023 – Prior to the Taliban takeover, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was already one of the worst in the world. The recent escalation in conflict and the resulting upheaval in Afghanistan has worsened already significant humanitarian needs and further complicated an extremely challenging operational context. In 2023, an estimated 28 million people will require humanitarian assistance due to conflict, chronic food insecurity, displacement, the coronavirus (COVID-19), broad economic crisis, and climatic events.

The United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ (OCHA) primary mandate is to oversee the coordination of international humanitarian responses, in partnership with national and international actors, facilitating the achievement of more coherent and effective humanitarian action.

With the support of GAC and other donors, OCHA fulfills its mandate in Afghanistan. Project activities include: (1) strengthening humanitarian leadership; (2) establishing and overseeing coordination systems; (3) monitoring and reporting on humanitarian situations; (4) advocating on behalf of affected people; (5) supporting humanitarian needs assessment, the prioritization of humanitarian needs and strategic planning; (6) promoting emergency preparedness; and (7) mobilizing funding for humanitarian assistance.

This project aims to improve inclusive and gender-responsive, comprehensive disaster management in the Caribbean Region focusing on vulnerable populations, particularly women and girls. The World Food Programme, in partnership with regional and national agencies, works to build capacity and strengthen disaster response and social protection systems, ensuring that vulnerable households and populations are supported to prepare for and recover from shocks.

Project activities include: (1) providing technical assistance to national governments in areas that will support the strengthening of social protection and disaster response systems, such as identification and registration, vulnerability analyses, mapping, information management and data analysis, digitalization, and predictions and assessments of the impact of shocks; (2) providing top-ups to increase national insurance coverage made available by CCRIF-SPC, to enable the equivalent portion of payments received following a disaster to be transferred directly through social protection systems to those most vulnerable and in need of assistance; (3) identifying and developing mechanisms for anticipatory action financing to enable the disbursement of funds to the most vulnerable to aid their preparedness in advance of a predictable event (e.g. hurricane); (4) supporting continued progress on establishing and operationalizing the Regional Logistics Hub and Centre of Excellence in coordination with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and other partners; and (5) operationalizing the Centre of Excellence training facility and delivering training for disaster response personnel and logisticians.

This project will be implemented in Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname. The targeted beneficiaries will be populations living in vulnerable situations, particularly women and girls in the targeted countries. Additionally, national governments and regional, and national organizations will benefit from capacity building initiatives and technical assistance.

Solid Waste Management and Up-cycling of PP and HDPE Marine Waste in Qursaya Island, Egypt, Through Co-Production

The overall purpose of the Aquatic Invasive Species Program is to minimize introduction of aquatic invasive species and minimize risk of consequences from them.