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Granting and application process
The NGO Support Programme maintains strict standards of fairness and
transparency in its granting procedures. The selection process for national
and regional grants include two steps:
Concept paper
NGOs are asked for this stage to prepare a brief explanation of the project
idea and identify any selected partners (other NGOs, stakeholders). Concept
papers are evaluated internally by the REC against the selection criteria,
which are detailed in the grants announcement. The REC provides comments
and detailed guidelines for accepted concept papers, which must be followed
by NGOs in preparing the full proposals.
Full proposals
At this stage, NGOs work with their partners to prepare and submit a complete
proposal to the REC. Proposals are reviewed by independent evaluators according
to a set list of criteria, which is presented in the grants announcement and
guidelines. Final decisions are made at the Grants Evaluation Meeting.
Decision making
The decision-making process for local and national grants, which are managed by
the REC's country offices, involves local advisory boards in each of the
countries. These boards consist of five or six reputable environmental experts;
each
with a substantial understanding of NGO developments in their countries. These
boards have decision-making power, and membership changes periodically in line
with yearly mandates.
In the selection process for regional grants, the REC invites
three independent, international experts to participate in the evaluation process,
along with three experts from the REC.
Each individual call for grant proposals provides an
individual set of criteria, but they generally include three main points:
- topic content: impact, relevance and sustainability;
- NGO qualifications: background and previous experience; and
- proposal content: action plan and budget.
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