6 March 2013: The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) has announced it is implementing a portfolio of Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) projects of over US$16 million, leveraged from various partners and donors. The announcement was made on the sidelines of a five-day training workshop for the SGP National Coordinators of the small island developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean.

The “Community-Based Adaptation (CBA) Regional Workshop for the Caribbean SIDS” took place in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, from 6-9 March 2013. The event also saw the launch of the implementation of SGP’s SIDS Community-Based Adaptation project in Barbados and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Workshop participants discussed the challenges in the implementation of the SIDS CBA project in the Caribbean region, and focused on cross country and practical learning. To capitalize on the implementation of CBA projects in the region, SGP is investing in a Sub-regional Technical Advisory Network for SIDS in the Caribbean.

In 2009, SGP and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) entered into a partnership that aims to improve the adaptive capacity of communities and reduce their vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. The first phase of the partnership started in the Mekong and Asia Pacific region (MAP CBA) and was expanded in 2011 to SIDS (SIDS CBA). According to SGP, SIDS CBA has already approved 16 regular project grants and 13 planning grants covering agricultural management, integrated land and coastal area management, freshwater security, marine management resilience and knowledge management.

SGP is implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP). [SGP Press Release] [SGP CBA Website]