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Since 1993, March 22th has been declared as World Water Day and represents an opportunity to promote concrete activities to protect and raise awareness about water resources. This year, the UN system is bringing the attention to the link between water and energy generation, focusing on ensuring access to safe drinking water, sanitation, food security and energy services to the ‘bottom billion’ who live in poverty and without access to this basic resources. It also brings attention to the development of policies that can lead to energy security and sustainable water use.
The GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) has been working with communities on sustainable water use practices, as well as in renewable energy since 1992. Below are a few examples from the portfolio that can demonstrate the role communities can play in protecting and making sustainable use of water resources, as well as ensuring their access to energy in a sustainable way.
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Since then, SGP and has supported the installation of 16 micro-hydropower systems and benefiting more than 1,500 families living in poverty; and other 17 systems are under implementation, generating access to electricity to more than 2,000 families. The capacity of each micro hydro system varies from 10 and 150 kW. Furthermore, other 25 micro hydro systems will be developed in the next two years, providing electricity access to more than 3500 families in the hilly and mountainous areas of the Dominican Republic. This cluster of projects not only has a major impact in protecting the forests that enable the micro hydro system and reducing CO2 emissions by avoiding the use of polluting sources of energy such as gasoline, kerosene, and fuel wood; but has a major impact in the lives of these communities that now have steady access to electricity and all other related services such as access to internet, TV, radio, light to study, among others. In fact, data collected have shown that children and young people from El Limón demonstrate higher academic performance than other students attending the same school.
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Given the positive results of these community based micro-hydro systems, the SGP experience contributed directly to the formulation of the 57-2007 national laws on renewable energy promotion and incentives, providing funds for these types of systems. Furthermore, the government of Dominican Republic has as adopted this community based strategy as the main mechanism for rural electrification through alliances between the SGP and national institutions, like the Energy National Commission (CNE), the Rural and Suburban Electrification Unit (UERS), the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to work together for the development of this kind of projects.
SGP has supported hundreds of micro-hydro projects globally; other SGP countries with a strong focus on micro-hydro projects include Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, the Phillipines and Sri Lanka.
In addition, since 2004, SGP has been implementing the Community Water Initiative (CWI), an initiative supported by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the governments of Luxembourg and Norway and other donors, to bring water supply and sanitation services to poor and marginalized communities. Through this programme, SGP has supported more than 150 projects, with US$3.5 million and an equivalent amount in cofinancing in 10 countries. Below are a few examples of the results of these projects.
In Sri Lanka, the 13 projects of the CWI focused on watershed management, spring protection and the creation of water reservoirs. One project and its extension improved the quality of drinking water from wells through groundwater bioremediation, benefitting approximately 10,000 inhabitants and more than 1 million visitors and was selected as a top ten finalist at the World Water Forum in 2009. In Tanzania, the projects developed rainwater-harvesting schemes to provide water and sanitation for 30 schools and their communities; while other projects sought to develop drinking water supply schemes and small-scale irrigation farming. As many CWI projects do, the projects combined promotion of improved water and hygiene with food security and ecosystem rehabilitation. As a result, communities were able to realize an astounding 80-90% reduction in water-borne diseases.
Background for editors
About the GEF
The GEF unites 183 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), and the private sector to address global environmental issues while supporting national sustainable development initiatives. An independently operating financial organization, the GEF provides grants for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, the ozone layer, and persistent organic pollutants.
Since 1991, GEF has achieved a strong track record with developing countries and countries with economies in transition, providing $11.5 billion in grants and leveraging $57 billion in co-financing for over 3,215 projects in over 165 countries. For more information, visit www.thegef.org.
About the GEF Small Grants Programme
Launched in 1992, GEF SGP supports activities of nongovernmental and community-based organizations in developing countries towards climate change abatement, conservation of biodiversity, protection of international waters, reduction of the impact of persistent organic pollutants and prevention of land degradation while generating sustainable livelihoods.
Since its creation, GEF SGP has provided over 16,500 grants to communities in over 125 developing countries. Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) as a corporate programme, GEF SGP is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on behalf of the GEF partnership, and is executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
Media contacts:
- Ana Maria Currea, KM and Communications Specialist, GEF SGP, ana.maria.currea@undp.org , 646-781-4353
- Christian Hofer, Senior Communication Officer chofer@TheGEF.org, (202) 458-0938, www.TheGEF.org