"The program generates labor opportunities and income for the poor, it creates cohesion, and it focuses on environmental conservation. In that sense, it is exemplary. The program also allows the Millennium Development Goals to be fulfilled on a local level, and that is quite a triumph. Few programs have that kind of results nowadays.

There are concrete, tangible, measurable results, that simultaneously satisfy the Millennium Development Goals, but also - and more importantly, - the personal satisfaction of having made it on their own. I believe that this is one of the main objectives of the program and that is what keeps it growing. If we at the UNDP could manage to extend this nationwide, we would be very proud, and maybe we will make it happen."

"SGP is sensitive to the needs expressed by the communities that turn to our program as an ally for advancing their proposals. SGP works with organizations that have little or no experience and in places where other donors will not risk their resources. A clear example are the indigenous communities that typically receive economic support as passive beneficiaries but rarely as active agents. SGP is one of the few programmes that have established agreements to provide resources that indigenous communities themselves manage."