Project Background and Problem Definition:

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) in Ghana has been supporting the Civil Society Organizations (CSO) with grants to enable them to address issues in climate change, conserve biodiversity, protect international waters, reduce the impact of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and other critical chemicals (i.e. mercury), and prevent land degradation. The impact has been great and over the last decade. the CSO rise in Ghana has been very strong with a number of coalitions and networks emerging.

This not withstanding, the environmental sector has not witnessed the needed growth and capacities to handle and manage environmental issues in Ghana. The environmental CSOs in are limited by:

a. Inadequate knowledge and awareness of GEF?s public involvement policies and other guidance, including the requirements related to engagement of civil society (e.g. Gender Policy; Principles and Guidelines for engagement of Indigenous peoples etc);
b. Weak organizational capacities ? to analyze technical issues and make meaningful representations and effectively engage with government convention and GEF focal points;
c. There is poor coordination of CSO networks which are already weak in dealing with global environmental issues.
d. Most CSOs in Ghana do not document lessons and best practices sufficiently nor share knowledge or experience with others on successful CSO approaches in addressing global environmental issues.
e. CSOs have inadequate access to policy and programming discussion venues in order to engage in planning of activities to address global environmental issues and use of GEF and other financial resources
f. Most CSOs in Ghana have inadequate understanding of the opportunities for CSO engagement in the integrated implementation of GEF-related Conventions. This acts a barrier for them to provide guidance to civil society on to involve it effectively in synergistic convention implementation

Project Goal and Objectives

Goal
The goal of this project is to develop the capacities of CSOs to enable SGP grantees and other CSO stakeholders network, share and showcase best practices, innovative technologies and lessons learned developed by the civil society to promote the replication and scaling up of results for greater policy influence and transformational change; as well as to promote sustainability and the mobilization of additional resources for community-based sustainable development initiatives.

Objectives
The project specific objectives are to:
i. Promote knowledge exchange between NGOs/CBOs working to address global environment issues in order to raise awareness and facilitate replication and scaling up of best practices and innovation.
ii. Improve awareness and understanding about the GEF focal areas and the GEF SGP country programme, its strategy and results.
iii. Promote and strengthen partnerships among all concerned stakeholders such as local communities, NGOs/CBOs/CSOs, government, and local authorities, academic and research institutions, the private sector, international donors and development agencies.
iv. Influence the public policy agenda with the experience of SGP and other relevant CSO work.
v. Document and promote the replication and scaling up of successful projects and best practices, including community based methodologies and technology, of SGP and other community-based and non-governmental entities.
vi. Create a wide and broad-based network of communities and CSOs -including their supporters- that can serve as an active constituency for positive dialogue with the government on sustainable development planning and policy making at the national level.

Project Rationale
Under the OP5 of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, Ghana intends to promote community-based initiatives that simultaneously conserve the environment and promote sustainable development through the implementation of local, community-based projects. This project aims at developing the capacity of community-based organization to support the strategic initiatives by GEF/SGP by:
? Improving community forest and wildlife resources management capability through equitable sharing of management responsibilities and benefit flows to local stakeholders, especially the rural poor.
? Improving governance in the public sector such as participation, transparency, and accountability.
? Mainstreaming collaborative resource management (CRM), by promoting the rights of farmers other marginalized groups building capacities and strengthening local organizations and institutions and
? Improving the community voice through the creation of a forestry fora network across the country to provide a space for interaction and give communities a voice; multi-stakeholder involvement in management planning; and the establishment of customer service centres in all the districts to improve service delivery.

Global Environment Benefits
The proposed project would develop local capacity in multiple global, national, and local environment benefits, within the context of sustainable development, organize environmental fairs and promote the up-scaling of GEF/SGP interventions. The benefits to be derived in successful implementation of the project would include: (a) community involvement in the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity; (b) prevention and/or control of pollution of major river systems from illegal activities and domestic waste; (c) prevention and/or control of degradation of watersheds through unsustainable land use practices; (d) minimization of carbon emission from shifting agriculture and the use of inefficient wood stoves; (e) improvement in carbon sequestration through improvement of vegetation cover; (f) provision of alternative economic livelihoods for communities in the traditional area; (f) rise in community awareness levels in environmental management and conservation; (g) up-scaling of successful SGP intervention
The project is an important modality to meet the capacity building needs of the CSO and the GEF/SGP in Ghana i.e. enhancing and strengthening capacities of NGOs/CBOs to understand and implement convention guidelines, engage in consultative processes, apply knowledge management to ensure information flows, and monitor and evaluate environmental impacts and trends. It is a key activity designed to support networking and knowledge exchange among SGP grantees as well as other CSOs and the public to promote replication and scaling up of projects and best practices. It is also expected to strengthen the capacity of civil society to influence policy development processes through participation in events that draw in influential individuals and institutions. To maximize its impact and promote mainstreaming of SGP results, the Best Practice and Knowledge Fair can be held in conjunction with other national conferences and events (e.g. Environment Month, Earth Day, Independence Day, etc).

PROJECT OUTCOME AND EXPECTED OUTPUTS:

Expected Outcome
1) Members of GEF/NGO Network have the skills and knowledge to research, diagnose, understand and transform complex dynamic nature of global environmental problems and develop local solutions for collective actions;
2) Public awareness on proven technologies, systems and procedures raised and information management by CSOs improved on the national scale
3) CSOs participate actively and constructively in analysis, discussion and implementation of measures to address global environmental issues through enhanced engagement with government GEF and convention focal points.

Expected Output
The expected outputs of the project are as follows:
1) Build institutional capacities of 750 professionals and members from 50 CSOs already working or seeking to work with GEF/SGP in ?social organization?, ?accounting and bookkeeping?, ?skills for effective project management?, ?resource mobilization and project proposal writing?, ?effective communication and report writing? and ?environmental sustainability?;
2) Two Best Practice and Knowledge Fairs held in conjunction with other national conferences and international events like World Environment Day and World Day to combat Desertification .
3) National knowledge platform established, and made operational to facilitate sharing of experience and lessons learned from project level to support up-scaling CSO engagement to address global environmental issues

First quarter report

1. Two hundred and twenty (220) Civil Society Organizations were identified nationwide working in the field of environment.
2.A three-day capacity building training workshop in project management including Asset-Based Community project planning, participatory monitoring and evaluation, accounting etc was organized for 47 CSOs in the Southern.
3.A three-day capacity building training workshop in project management including Asset-Based Community project planning, participatory monitoring and evaluation, accounting etc organized for 38 CSOs in the Middle and Northern sectors.