The UNDP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) in Ghana has received funds under the GEF-6 to support the expansion of existing nature-based women-led enterprises for exponential impact in Ghana. In this regard, the GEF-SGP announces the 2019 "call for proposals" to award small grants of between $50,000 to US$150,000 to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) registered in Ghana for the most innovative initiatives.

Priority themes

The programme seeks to support and expand women-led nature-based small to medium sized enterprises which has a significant growth potential. Priority grant will be given to projects that aim to do one or more of the following:  

• Business management training
• Technical training
• Product development and design training
• Business development and business management counselling
• Marketing training
• Financial training and finance facilitation
• Business women’s networks and business networking – regional, national, and international
• Enabling and creating access to markets

Eligibility and Criteria

• Organization should have an established business model/product
• Emerging women-led small and medium enterprises/businesses
• Promotion and strengthening of second tier organizations that aggregate others such as women cooperatives, self-help groups, and associations
• Initiatives to establish local incubators in partnership with the private sector
• Proposed projects should be bold, innovative, and transformative, and have potential for replication and scaling up.
• Priority will be given to enterprises that are ripe for scaling up, building on success SGP Country Programmes and projects that could bring partnership and leverage additional resources (e.g. co-financing with International NGO, foundation, private sector) at the program and project levels.
• Priority will be given to enterprises with local chambers of commerce, trade unions, large scale cooperatives, local public-private organizations and local incubators and accelerators for social good that can offer business advise to women-led enterprises are encouraged.

Time Framework

This Call for Proposals is opened from the date of this advertisement until September 15, 2019. Interested applicant should please submit expression of interest to george.ortsin@undp.org or lois.sarpong@undp.org. Details of the project Strategic Document; project concept guidelines; and project proposal guidelines can be downloaded.