Small Grants Programme (GEF UNDP/SGP) globally in 125 countries is funded by Global Environment Facility (GEF). There are 15 upgraded countries; India being one of them. The corporate program of the GEF is executed by the United Nation Development Program (UNDP), on behalf of the GEF partnership. In India the program is hosted through the National Host Institution (NHI) i.e. - Centre for Environme
nt Education (CEE) as the responsible party for the GEF Small Grants Programme which is being implemented under a full scale project of the GEF by Ministry of Environment, Forest & climate change (MoEF&CC) Government of India (GoI) and executed through the United Nation Development Program (UNDP). GEF UNDP/SGP seeks to support initiatives, which demonstrate community-based innovative, gender sensitive, participatory approaches and lessons learned from other development projects that lead to reduce threats to the local and global environment problems. The GEF UNDP/SGP Programme is sourced with a belief that global environmental problems can only be addressed adequately, if local people are involved in planning, decision making and sharing roles and responsibilities at all levels. It strongly believes that with small amounts of funding, the communities can undertake activities and local actions, which make "Significant Difference" to their environment and livelihoods. CEE is a national level institution supported by Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India as a “centre of excellence”, and affiliated to the Nehru Foundation for Development, Ahmedabad. CEE has its presence felt in all the states and Union Territories of India through a local network of 7 regional offices 9 state offices and 21 field offices across the country. The GEF UNDP/SGP program started in India from the year 1996-1997. So far it has in India supported 424 projects in various geographical locations across the country and in all six thematic areas of Biodiversity, Climate Change, Land Degradation, Sustainable Forest Management, International Waters and Chemicals. Since its inception, GEF UNDP/SGP has confronted very real challenges in working with communities to reconcile global environmental priorities with local community needs - challenges that have been met in different ways across the globe depending on particular economic, cultural, political and environmental conditions. In the process, GEF UNDP/SGP became "the people's GEF".
