Local communities are best placed to develop tailored solutions to their daily challenges. This is why the UNDP in Guinea-Bissau last October, as part of the community support platform Na Nô Mon, launched a Small Grants Scheme aimed at providing local change-makers with the opportunity to take action about the problems they suffer from.

Over a period of three months, the UNDP received more than 76 proposals that through community engagement, voice and participation advance initiatives that address social, environmental or economic challenges in communities, raise ambition for sustainable development actions, develop skills and volunteering opportunities for local people to become active members of their community, and ultimately, foster communications between local communities and authorities.

The deadline for receipt of applications was December 2020, following three evaluation phases: Phase 1: Initial screening of applications; Phase 2: Technical and financial analysis of proposals; Phase 3: Committee for the validation of proposals. An evaluation committee, composed by the UNDP, UNICEF and the High Commissioner for COVID-19, ranked the proposals and selected the first 10 winning projects.

Grants will be provided to ten organizations that will lead projects that aim to ensure digital literacy of vulnerable groups, promote women’s rights and fight against gender based violence, foster inclusion of people with disabilities and leave no one behind, support local economies in the respect of the environment.  

The initiative aims to be a learning-by-doing experience, allowing teams to learn in real time and in real circumstances. Built on the value of participatory democracy, the initiative aims to allow citizens to create a space to find collective solutions to complex social, economic and environmental problems, while building community organizations capacities and supporting participatory governance mechanisms.

All projects will be presented on the Na Nô Mon platform (https://nanomon.org/) in order to ensure sharing of information and possibly replication in other communities. We want to help Guinea-Bissauans find solutions for long-term development. Join the Na Nô Mon platform and be part of a space for dialogue and exchange: the solution is in your hand!