Ana Maria Currea, GEF Small Grants Programme at UNDP

Ana Maria Currea, GEF Small Grants Programme at UNDP

The GEF gives funding to communities and civil society organisations in over 125 countries to initiate sustainable development projects with a focus on gender and climate change. They particularly like to fund projects that empower women who are then able to challenge some of the cultural and traditional roles they have in their communities. Benefits include the ability to create change as they gain skills and knowledge to transform their environment, and the ability to gain leadership roles in their communities. Ana gives the example of a solar education project where 71 women around the world have been funded and supported to study solar engineering at Barefoot College in India. The women have supplied solar electricity in 152 villages which has benefited 22, 000 people.