Since 1995, GEF-SGP has provided funding and technical support to more than 80 civil society projects in Trinidad and Tobago in an effort to promote positive national change in the six GEF SGP focal areas. In spite of the availability of these resources, many CSOs remain trapped in a vicious cycle where lack of awareness and capacity prevents them from accessing the full range of financial and technical support that is potentially available to them and lack of organisational capacity (financial and human resources, skills and equipment) prevents them from implementing their mission, programmes and projects effectively. This situation is compounded by the challenges that the GEF SGP Country Office and National Steering Committee (NSC) face in terms of having adequate capacity (skills and resources) to effectively promote, screen, support, and monitor and evaluate the projects that it funds.
The impact of the GEF SGP on its focal areas is directly related to the capacity of CSOs to effectively identify, design and implement projects that meet the needs of their stakeholders and the criteria of the GEF SGP. This project attempts to break the vicious cycle described above by enhancing the capacity of all stakeholders in the GEF SGP in Trinidad and Tobago, including potential applicants, present grantees, the GEF SGP Country Office and the NSC.
The goal of the proposal is therefore to improve the capacity of SGP stakeholders to design, implement, select and monitor SGP projects in Trinidad and Tobago with a view to improving the quality and quantity of grant applications received and the likelihood of successful and timely implementation of grants that are approved.
The specific objectives are to:
1. improve the capacity of up to eight potential grantee organisations to identify projects that fulfil GEF SGP criteria and have the support of their stakeholder base/target beneficiaries through facilitation of two one-day workshops;
2. improve the capacity of up to eight potential grantee organisations to write proposals (either for planning or full grants) that meet the GEF SGP criteria and have a high likelihood of successful implementation through facilitation of two two-day workshops;
3. enhance the capacity of the GEF SGP Trinidad and Tobago Country Office and National Steering Committee (NSC) to review and assess proposals effectively through facilitation of a one-day review and capacity building workshop;
4. facilitate the review by the Country Office and NSC of the Country Program Strategy through facilitation of a one-day review and capacity building workshop; and
5. draft (in Microsoft Word or Publisher) the 2012 Annual Report including documentation of GEF SGP projects’ contribution to GEF SGP indicators over the past year, based on reports and other information supplied by the GEF SGP Country Office.
The main outcomes of the project, which are primarily related to the capacity building focal area but will contribute to all other focal areas, are expected to be:
• increased stakeholder awareness of the GEF SGP and the impact it is having in Trinidad and Tobago in its six focal areas;
• increase in the number and quality of GEF SGP proposals received;
• increase in the percentage of GEF SGP-funded projects that achieve their objectives and are completed within the agreed timeframe; and
• increased capacity of the GEF SGP Country Office and NSC to assess proposals.

The total request for GEF SGP funding is USD 23,916.90 and the in-kind contribution from Veni Apwann is USD 5,000.