The
AEWA Secretariat is pleased to announce that four projects
have been selected for funding under the AEWA Small Grants
Fund (SGF) programme for 2010.

These include two projects on the conservation
of the Madagascar Pond Heron in Kenya and Madagascar, one
on assessing breeding populations of waterbirds in ten Red
Sea Islands and the fourth on research and conservation
activities for the White-winged Flufftail in Ethiopia. A
further five projects have been assessed as eligible for
funding, should additional financial support become available
in 2010. The projects were chosen from a total of 31 project
proposals submitted to the AEWA Secretariat.

The AEWA Small Grants Fund programme was
established by the first Meeting of the Parties (MOP1) through
Resolution
1.7 and aims to promote the implementation
of the Agreement in developing countries and countries with
economies in transition. During MOP4 in 2008 a sum of 20,000
Euros per year was allocated from the AEWA core budget for
funding SGF projects in Africa, for the period of 2009 –
2012. Furthermore, a voluntary contribution of 56,500 Euros
was received from the French Government to fund additional
SGF projects in Africa for 2010.

The first call for SGF project proposals
was made in January 2010. Given that funds available for
immediate allocation were applicable to Africa the call
was restricted to projects from African countries. The deadline
for the submission of projects proposals for the 2010 cycle
was set for 30 April 2010.

By the end of the submission deadline,
31 project proposals had been received, 18 of which were
eligible for consideration under the SGF programme, in accordance
with the guidelines for the operation of the Fund. These
18 project proposals were then evaluated by the AEWA Secretariat
which assessed the overall quality of the project proposals,
their feasibility and their technical quality. Additional
considerations emphasized the applicability of the project
proposals to the overall implementation of AEWA in Africa.
In addition, only one project proposal was considered per
country.

The Secretariat further invited the views
of the AEWA Technical Committee for additional input regarding
the technical quality of the projects and the priority projects
for funding in 2010. Subsequently, it consulted the AEWA
Standing Committee for its approval on the funding of projects
for the 2010 AEWA SGF cycle as well as the establishment
of a priority list of project proposals which could be funded
should additional funds become available in 2010.

Based on this assessment process, nine
project proposals emerged as suitable SGF candidates and
were ranked in the order of their relevance for implementation
of the Agreement in Africa. The proposals were further separated
into two categories:

• A1 projects: These are project proposals
  that are of good quality, feasible, technically sound
  and of highest priority for funding with the funds available
  for the 2010 AEWA SGF cycle. Four projects fall into this
  category, amounting to a request for 68,826 Euros.
  
• A2 projects: These include project
  proposals that are of good quality, feasible, technically
  sound and recommended for funding if additional funds
  become available for the 2010 AEWA SGF cycle. A further
  116,708 Euros would be required for funding the five projects
  in this category.

The funding and implementation of the A2
projects depends on voluntary contributions. The AEWA Secretariat
therefore calls on governments, development agencies and
other donors to strongly consider allocating funds for the
implementation of these A2 project proposals in 2010.

Further Information:

• Overview
  of AEWA Small Grants Fund (SGF) Project Proposals
  for the 2010 Cycle (Anglais | Français)

For more information on the AEWA Small
Grants Fund please contact: Ms.
Evelyn Moloko, Coordinator for the African
Initiative