On May 7, 2014, the UNDP Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme along with the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, signed a joint communiqué which seeks to spur and maintain sustainable development projects and programmes in Saint Lucia.

 

The announcement came following the presentation of the annual report on the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme in Saint Lucia presented by GEF SGP UNDP National Coordinator, Giles Romulus at the Hunter J. Francois Library, located on the Morne.

Mr. Romulus presented the investment and outputs of the programme including the launch of several new projects representing an investment of US $400,000. He also unveiled two public service announcements on the link between bees, food security and environmental quality.

The event was attended by Sen. Hon. Dr. James Fletcher, Minister for Sustainable Development, Energy, Science & Technology, as well as representatives of the governments of Australia, France and the United Kingdom. 

 

The parties agreed to collaborate in building a network of support through civil society organizations to access funding as well as technical advice and assistance in designing and implementing projects in the five GEF focal areas.

Caroline Eugene, the GEF co-operation focal point person for Saint Lucia, outlined the areas in which the two parties agreed to collaborate.

"Specifically the parties agree to work together to encourage and foster research, build capacity and capability among CSOs in Saint Lucia, provide technical assistance to CSOs, and increase their absorptive capacity of donor funds, ensure that monitoring and evaluation is an integral component of all projects and identify, derive and share lessons learnt from projects as part of their respective knowledge management strategies."

The joint communiqué was signed by Fortuna Anthony, Chairperson of the Board of Management of the SALCC; and Stephen O'Malley, UN Resident Coordinator & UNDP Resident Representative to Barbados and the OECS.

Representatives of several active initiatives in Saint Lucia were presented with funding for their specific projects.
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