The National Forest Programme Facility invites countries to apply for a partnership
Countries ranked as low and medium according to the UN Human Development Index are welcome to apply.
Applications in the form of a Concept Note should be prepared by the Government, in consultation with the main stakeholders of the sector. and submitted to the Facility by the Government Agency nominated as Focal Point for the national forest programme.
The Facility will provide new partner countries with a grant, 300,000 US$ over a period of 3 years, in support of their national forest programme process.
Deadline for Submission of the Concept Note: 17 October 2008
Background
The National Forest Programme Facility ("Facility") is a funding mechanism; hosted by FAO since 2002, and operational in more than 60 countries in Africa, Near East, Asia & Pacific, and Latin America & Caribbean. The Facility supports implementation of national forest programmes (nfps), by stimulating the active participation of all stakeholders in the process.
The Facility's particular trademark is to stimulate the participation of non-state stakeholders in the nfp process by providing small-grants to them after an open and competitive process.
On average, 300,000 US$ are provided to a Facility Partner Country, over a period of 3 years, to support the nfp process. In concrete terms, this is done through i.e. capacity building of all stakeholders, information gathering to show (for example) the socio-economic contribution of the forestry sector, formulating a new forest policy in a participatory way engaging all stakeholders, sharing of forestry information and discussing it in regional or local forest fora, and dissemination of forestry related information. More examples on how Facility support can be used are found here.
Small grants are allocated after a competitive bidding and a transparent vetting process, carried out by a national multistakeholder steering committee of the country (chaired by the nfp focal point, normally the Forestry Department).
The grants are disbursed directly to the different stakeholders (non-profit making organisations): national institutions (such as the forest research institutes and educational centres), professional associations of the private sector, NGOs, CBOs, etc.
Countries wishing to apply for Facility support should submit a Concept Note, to be prepared by the government agency in charge of forestry in consultation with the main stakeholders in the sector.
The proposed outline for the Concept Note is available by clicking here.
Countries with a medium to low Human Development Index are eligible.
See list of eligible countries.
Based on selection selection criteria the Concept Note submitted will be ranked and the Steering Committee of the Facility will make the final selection of new partner countries in February 2009. Following this decision, a partnership agreement will be established between the Facility and selected country. As soon as possible after the agreement has been signed the partnership will start with a launching workshop involving the major stakeholders in the process from the start.
The Concept Note should be submitted electronically, latest by 17 October 2008, to:
Facility
Forestry Department
FAO
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00153 Rome - Italy
Fax: +39-06-570 55137
E-mail: nfp-facility@fao.org