Integration for greater impact
Eighth Comprehensive evaluation of the GEF
The GEF SGP is a corporate program that provides financial and technical support to communities and CSOs to meet the overall objective of global environmental benefits secured through community-based initiatives. Unique within the GEF framework, the SGP stands out as the sole modality that allocates resources directly to civil society and community groups. By doing so, it effectively translates global environmental goals into tangible local action.
Ensuring inclusive participation of traditionally marginalized groups—particularly women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples—has long been a core strategy of the SGP. Project data from Operational Phase 7 (OP7, 2020–24) indicate that SGP country programs have made significant efforts to involve these groups in project leadership and decision-making, and to achieve empowerment outcomes for them. Table 7.1 summarizes key participation metrics for women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples in SGP-funded projects during this period.
In Lesotho, a Small Grants Programme (SGP) grant to the nongovernmental organization Technologies for Economic Development supported women-led nature-based enterprises in honey production. The project—operational from September 2020 to June 2023—trained 44 people, including 37 women, in beekeeping skills through a national workshop (Let There Be Honey in Lesotho). It facilitated the production of 200 modern beehives and 50 trap boxes, which were distributed to trainees to jump-start their businesses. The introduction of affordable top bar beehive technology helped overcome challenges with traditional hives and yielded insights for future beekeeping policy development. Importantly, the project catalyzed broader organizational empowerment: it convened district-level beekeeping networks and committees, laying the groundwork for establishing a National Beekeepers Association. This multisectoral process has ignited strong interest in beekeeping especially among women, but also among youth and even members of the national security services—positioning them to lead a growing sustainable honey enterprise sector in Lesotho.
Efforts to promote gender inclusion within the SGP have shown measurable progress in project leadership and design. By the end of OP7, 43 percent of SGP projects were led by women—either as project coordinators or as heads of women’s cooperatives—an increase from roughly one-third at the start of the period. Over 78 percent of projects were classified as gender-responsive, incorporating gender-specific activities, outcomes, and indicators. Country programs supported this progress through practical measures such as requiring gender checklists during project appraisal by national steering committees and including sex-disaggregated indicators and women-focused components in project design (box 7.1). By 2023, 90 percent of SGP country programs had designated a gender focal point on their steering committees, reflecting strong institutional commitment. Despite these positive developments, it remains unclear at this time to what extent SGP interventions produced socially transformational outcomes for women or led to broader shifts in gender equality.
Youth have also become an increasingly important stakeholder group in SGP projects, recognized as both future leaders and active change agents in addressing environmental challenges. From 2020 to 2024, approximately 40 percent of SGP projects included youth in key roles or as primary beneficiaries, with hundreds of youth-led or youth-serving organizations participating. Many country programs (approximately 71 percent) appointed youth focal points on their national steering committees to ensure that youth perspectives are integrated into grant-making. SGP projects targeting youth have yielded significant empowerment outcomes, often combining environmental action with education, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.
In addition to on-the-ground initiatives, SGP facilitated youth engagement at global forums, organizing a Youth Climate Action video competition in partnership with multilateral environmental agreements—including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification—to amplify youth voices internationally. Overall, the SGP experience demonstrates that when provided with adequate resources and training, youth can drive innovative solutions and influence communal practices for environmental sustainability.
An Indigenous-led community association on Tanna Island addressed forest degradation and water scarcity with Small Grants Programme (SGP) support. The community established a forest nursery that improved water access and planted native trees to restore deforested areas while preventing soil erosion on garden slopes. The association cultivated culturally important plants, including medicinal herbs, and conducted training sessions in land and forest management in the local language with Indigenous participants.
In a significant move toward environmental stewardship, the community designated a 5-hectare tract of traditionally owned forest as a no-take, no-entry conservation zone to rehabilitate the watershed. The project’s outreach extended to neighboring villages. During World Environment Day, the group distributed 4,000 tree seedlings from the nursery to 10 Indigenous tribes for reforestation on their lands.
Through this project, Indigenous leaders not only restored critical ecosystems but also exercised leadership in natural resource governance, strengthening customary land management practices. This example illustrates how SGP projects can respect and leverage Indigenous knowledge while empowering communities to secure rights to land and resources and participate in local and national environmental governance.
Indigenous peoples have remained a priority constituency for the SGP over the course of OP7, and their participation has led to tangible empowerment outcomes (box 7.2). In OP7, the SGP made notable efforts to strengthen the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples across its portfolio. From 2020 to 2024, 22 percent of SGP projects were reported as involving Indigenous Peoples as implementers, partners, or target communities. This percentage for inclusion in OP7 projects represents modest progress over OP6’s roughly 20 percent share (SGP 2020). Given the persistent language, capacity, and remoteness barriers, many Indigenous communities face, maintaining and slightly increasing that level of engagement signals real effort: in OP7, 32 country programs established Indigenous Peoples’ focal points on their steering committees and 36 undertook enhanced outreach to Indigenous Peoples’ groups (UNDP 2024).
To enhance Indigenous Peoples’ inclusion, the SGP adapted its processes. For example, 18 country programs accepted grant proposals in local Indigenous languages, and 14 countries piloted the use of participatory video for proposal submissions. In 28 countries, Indigenous representatives were included in national steering committees or technical advisory groups, ensuring they had a voice in project selection and guidance. By 2020, 39 percent of country programs had appointed an Indigenous Peoples’ focal person within their SGP governance structure to champion Indigenous issues. The effectiveness with which the SGP has reached or included Indigenous Peoples is evaluated at a moderately high level (84 out of 100) by survey respondents.
Finally, there are limited data on the participation of persons living with disabilities or their leadership in projects funded by the SGP. Data are beginning to emerge on SGP projects involving the participation of persons with disabilities. Although targets were set, reports do not mention this group in particular, nor has there been an explicit effort to remove barriers to their participation in national steering committees or as grantees.
SGP 2.0 was endorsed by the GEF Council in December 2022. It aims to align more closely with GEF-8 strategies, expand implementation to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Conservation International alongside UNDP, and increase private sector and multistakeholder engagement. The upgrading policy has been replaced with equal-share core allocations for 140 eligible countries, complemented by optional System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) top-ups. Two special initiatives—the SGP CSO Challenge Program (GEF ID 11757) led by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Global Microfinance Initiative for Locally Led Action led by the World Bank (GEF ID 11903)—aim to further strengthen the global program.
The shift to SGP 2.0 created new opportunities for innovation and inclusion but also introduced complexity and inconsistencies. OP8 has continued the SGP’s innovation legacy by providing technical support and incubation services, and piloting a microfinance initiative. Avenues for inclusion and leadership of and by vulnerable groups have also improved. While the OP8 remains in its infancy, expansion to three implementing GEF Agencies has created inconsistencies in templates, reporting cycles, and guidance, leaving some national stakeholders unclear regarding procedures. The transition was perceived as rushed and insufficiently consultative, with concerns raised about the Agency selection process and sustainability of the required grant ratio. Nearly all GEF Agencies participating in SGP 2.0 have indicated that sustaining the grant ratio is feasible only by “subsidizing” the SGP with additional internal or external resources. These issues may pose risks of duplication and inequitable access in future phases. Unresolved questions related to the SGP’s sustainability, adaptability, and stability under 2.0 modalities remain.
OP8 continues to advance the inclusion agenda by embedding gender equality throughout its programming—from governance to grantmaking. Each participating country must conduct a gender analysis to inform a dedicated GAP aligned with its national strategy. National steering committees are required to appoint gender focal points and ensure that women’s perspectives are integrated into project appraisal and oversight. Applicants must include gender-responsive activities in their proposals, with technical mentors helping to address any identified gaps. OP8 also sets a quantitative target of 22,500 direct female beneficiaries and mandates grievance mechanisms through female representatives.
Inclusion of Indigenous Peoples is similarly reinforced, with cultural sensitivity guiding the localization of country program strategies through village-level consultations. Indigenous and local community representatives are required on steering committees to ensure participation in funding and policy decisions. The programming of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Conservation International continues to prioritize Indigenous leadership.
However, a critical gap remains in that granular data on the nature of, and impact from, inclusion of persons with disabilities in SGP programming are lacking. OP8 does not yet provide clarity on how their participation will be supported or barriers removed, highlighting an area requiring greater attention in future phases.
Sources: GEF Portal and GEF IEO Annual Performance Report (APR) 2026 data set, which includes completed projects for which terminal evaluations were independently validated through June 2025.
Note: Data exclude parent projects, projects with less than $0.5 million of GEF financing, enabling activities with less than $2 million of GEF financing, and projects from the Small Grants Programme. Closed projects refer to all projects closed as of June 30, 2025. The GEF IEO accepts validated ratings from some Agencies; however, their validation cycles may not align with the GEF IEO’s reporting cycle, which can lead to some projects with available terminal evaluations lacking validated ratings within the same reporting period; thus, validated ratings here are from the APR data set only.