Delfin Ganapin Global Manager, UNDP-SGP, USA talks about the organisation’s small grants project which provides local people from local communities with grants for up to $50,000. The organisation’s priorities include women, indigenous people, young people and people with disabilities.
He says the small grants project is a form of community-based adaptation and has the co-benefit of helping to empower women, indigenous people, young people and people with disabilities while also integrating renewable energy into the community.
One example of this is the bamboo bicycle which has been implemented in Ghana. He says this project helps to empower the local community by creating employment but it also supports bamboo plantations and is less polluting then making steel bikes and therefore reduces the industry’s CO2 emissions.
Ganapin says the small grants project also promotes capacity-building – both professional and personal – and therefore is a sustainable process as it encourages local ownership.