The GEF created the Small Grants Programme (SGP) in 1992 with the explicit aim of developing community-led and -owned strategies and technologies for reducing threats to the global environment while addressing livelihood challenges. Principally implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the SGP provides small grants—up to a maximum of $50,000—to needy communities to support the use of practices and technologies that benefit the global environment.
In December 2022, the GEF Council approved the new SGP implementation arrangements for GEF-8, also known as SGP 2.0. Subsequently, SGP was expanded to include two additional GEF Agencies, Conservation International (CI) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO), alongside UNDP.
In 2008, 2015, and 2021 the SGP was jointly evaluated by the independent evaluation offices of the GEF and UNDP. This evaluation is an update of the Third Joint GEF-UNDP Evaluation of the SGP to inform the ongoing Eighth Comprehensive Evaluation of the GEF (OPS8). The purpose of the update is to assess the performance and strategic evolution of the SGP under Operational Phase 7 (OP7), with particular emphasis on the program’s transition toward SGP 2.0.
