5.4 Signature Solution 4: Environment

mitigation work reviewed for this evaluation, it is evident that UNDP has had success with regard to gender and has undertaken a comprehensive analysis of the possibilities inherent in climate finance flows for further integration of LNOB.

The environment Signature Solution has focused on an ‘empower’ approach to LNOB, mainly by engaging with indigenous peoples and local communities on biodiversity and conservation issues. This is important because rural deprivation is exacerbated by the mismanagement of ecosystems by third parties. Some intersectional work focused on women, people living in rural areas, indigenous peoples and youth was found in some instances to be more successful than others.

Finding 15 – Environment: The GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) has excelled at documenting success stories in reaching some of the furthest-behind populations, with an emphasis on women, youth and indigenous peoples and local communities. Operationalization of the UNDP local action offer promises further attention to overlapping and multiple forms of marginalization.

UNDP has achieved relevant results supporting the social inclusion of marginalized groups, including women, indigenous peoples, youth and people with disabilities through its Small Grants Programme (SGP) since 1992. The effectiveness of SGP grants in particular has been independently rated as high, partially due to the level of engagement of local stakeholders and to the ownership of the programme by local communities.265 Through small grants – typically $50,000 or less – SGP simultaneously engages in capacity development and concrete biodiversity and conservation projects in a participatory manner. National coordinators train the local communities on how to fill out grant proposals, which are often accepted in local languages or via participatory videos. The target populations – often the most remote and marginalized – are part of decision-making through the SGP governance structures, with focal persons on gender, indigenous peoples and youth. Annual monitoring reports or corporate annual reports provide information about the percentage of projects that have targeted various groups.266 This modus operandi corresponds to the aspirations for partnerships with UNDP as voiced by a civil society roundtable as part of this evaluation, and by CSO survey respondents (see Finding 4).

Projects funded through the SGP apply an ‘empower’ lens to LNOB and typically target predetermined ‘groups’, with limited prior gender or power analysis (but paying some attention to overlapping vulnerabilities). Examples are integrating indigenous biodiversity knowledge systems and facilitating intergenerational learning in South Africa;267 supporting sustainable land and forest management while promoting women’s rights and empowerment in Guatemala;268 and educating indigenous leaders on property rights and conflict resolution in Bolivia.269 In 2020, SGP launched a ‘Global Innovation

265 GEF Independent Evaluation Office and UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, ‘Third Joint GEF-UNDP Evaluation of the Small

Grants Programme’, GEF and UNDP, New York, 2021. 266 From 2020-2021, 22 percent of completed SGP projects involved indigenous peoples. A total of 889 indigenous leaders participated in various activities supported by the SGP. Global Environment Fund and United Nations Development Programme,

‘Small Grants Programme Results Report, 2020-2021’, GEF and UNDP, New York, 2021. Youth is a focus of over 40 percent of SGP projects; GEF and UNDP joint evaluation, Small Grants Programme. 267 Global Environment Fund and United Nations Development Programme, ‘The GEF Small Grants Programme Annual Monitoring

Report, 2019-2020’, GEF and UNDP, New York, 2020. 268 Global Environment Fund and United Nations Development Programme, ‘The GEF Small Grants Programme Annual Monitoring

Report, 2018-2019’, GEF and UNDP, New York, 2019. 269 Global Environment Fund and United Nations Development Programme, ‘Results from The GEF Small Grants Programme 2015’,

GEF and UNDP, New York, 2016.

Programme on Persons with Disabilities and Responsive Development’.270 Youth have led initiatives on ancestral knowledge and practices in Guatemala and Viet Nam; women’s empowerment in Morocco, and ocean pollution reduction in Seychelles and the Bahamas.271

Women interviewed for this evaluation stressed the strong psychosocial benefits derived from participating in the assessed projects. In India, the ‘Plastic Waste Management’ project, implemented in 37 cities, aims at inclusion and improved livelihoods for waste-pickers, or Safai Sathis, who are mostly women. So far 4,500 Safai Sathis have been issued occupational ID cards by urban local bodies; more than 300 have been helped with issuance of ration cards to ensure food security for themselves and their families; and bank accounts have been opened for 500 of them to help with financial inclusion.272 The project involved women waste-pickers in planning, monitoring and implementation of activities. Women confirmed that they received financial assistance, scholarships for their children’s education, health services and support in accessing various entitlements. Women project participants particularly valued the support received during the COVID-induced lockdown in the form of rations and other supplies. The women also benefitted from a sense of security, belonging and collective identity/recognition. For example, a woman waste-picker from Patna was recognized nationally, which she described as a life-altering experience given her socio-economic background. In Egypt, the project ‘Strengthening Protected Area Financing and Management Systems’ included a component on financial empowerment of Bedouin women, with two key interventions: provision of financial services and poultry-rearing. Thirty percent of women took out loans to establish income-generating activities or microbusinesses.273 Interviews indicate that awareness-building and infrastructure renovation had a great influence on protecting the environment, preserving cultural heritage and attracting more tourists to visit, thereby increasing employment. The networking aspects of the project opened the door for more communication and support from the government to local communities.

The promotion of indigenous land rights is a longstanding area of UNDP intervention with high relevance to LNOB. It is one of the few areas where UNDP works on ethnicity issues and addresses discrimination and longstanding political tensions. Many indigenous people see themselves as indigenous First Nations, and as such they have claimed the right to self-determination, which some governments perceive as a threat. This wider development agenda has been conducive to advocacy for indigenous rights.274 UNDP has provided training for indigenous peoples on how to interact with the United Nations through its Learning for Nature website, which has reached more than 45,000 learners. Some intersectional thinking was found in the topics offered by the 100+ courses.275 UNDP has also contributed to results through multi-agency partnerships on indigenous and community conservation areas (ICCA) with the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, the International Union for

270 GEF and UNDP, Small Grants Programme Annual Monitoring Report, 2019-2020. 271 United Nations Development Programme, ‘Youth in Action: Experiences from the Small Grants Programme’, UNDP,

New York, 2020. 272 Quarterly progress reports 2020 and 2021. 273 UNDP independent evaluation, Egypt. 274 For instance, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other instruments like the ILO Convention 169 have given a framework within which the UN can work to be the good conscience of governments. Media attention to the plight of indigenous peoples as well as the solutions they can provide, along with research quantifying the contributions of indigenous peoples, have also been key in acceptance of these local stakeholders on the global stage. International Labour Organization,

‘Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989’, ILO, Geneva. 275 UNDP Learning For Nature: Courses (website, accessed 2022)

the Conservation of Nature, and the ICCA Consortium. This partnership includes training of local people in territorial mapping and demarcation to help resolve conflicts surrounding land use between groups living in an ICCA.276

Also worth noting are the results found in the area of ‘empowering’ indigenous peoples and local communities through the UNDP environment portfolio. In Ecuador, the Pro-Amazonia programme aimed to address deforestation and its causes and promote biodiversity, conservation and sustainable and integrated natural resource management in productive zones and bio-corridors. A comprehensive diagnosis of the gaps related to the situation of women in the Amazon was produced277 and a leadership school trained 80 indigenous women who spoke highly of the project: “New generations will know first-hand that there are opportunities [for] growth and to have a better life,” according to one woman interviewee. There was also a good response from other organizations, who are keen to replicate the work.

However, it was suggested that UNDP could do a better job in identifying the particular needs of the communities and support them in key issues, such as certification and marketing opportunities. The Pro-Amazonia project also highlighted some of the difficulties involved in reaching and involving those furthest behind. The main limitation was language. Geographical distance was also an obstacle to reaching those left behind, given budget limitations and the additional costs required to reach scattered communities. In some cases, UNDP country office staff have difficulty physically reaching and communicating with local communities.

UNDP contributions to help ‘enact’ indigenous peoples’ rights have been more mixed. The ‘Equator Initiative’ aims to bring increased visibility to nature-based indigenous and local solutions as a different trajectory for the planet. It recognizes between 10 and 20 new winners a year, providing them with a training ‘bootcamp’ on how to tell their story and positioning them in front of global audiences. As one winner put it, “The Equator Prize has enabled us to advance our work in the fight for environmental justice for the benefit of indigenous Pygmies and the establishment of a legal framework in their favour in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Currently the National Assembly has deemed admissible the law promoting and protecting indigenous Pygmies. A first in the DRC on the fundamental and specific rights of indigenous Pygmies.”278 Partners and winner organizations believe that the Equator Initiative is relevant and adds value to the current indigenous peoples and local communities discourse and nature-based solutions by providing recognition and legitimization of the work being done by these organizations.279

In India, the ‘1,000 Springs Initiative’ trained local tribal youths as barefoot280 para-hydrogeologists to map and rejuvenate natural springs by combining traditional and scientific knowledge. A GIS-based spring water atlas was developed, with an inventory of 554 springs in remote areas of Odisha state. Reportedly, a total of 135 tribal youths were trained as barefoot hydrologists.281 The evaluation found that UNDP initiatives with the indigenous populations in India have improved capacities and opportunities for poor indigenous people. However, these initiatives are yet to be scaled up and replicated, either at the national level or in other states. Although the UNDP contribution is appreciated by the state government, UNDP is yet to help mainstream some of these learnings into larger government schemes.

276 ICCA Consortium, ‘Territories of Life: 2021 Report’, ICCA Consortium 2021. 277 ProAmazonia, ‘Diagnóstico de la Situación de las Mujeres Amazónicas’, ProAmazonia, 2019. 278 UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, ‘Equator Initiative Evaluation 2010-2019’, UNDP, New York, 2020, p.15. 279 Ibid., p.18 280 Community members trained in hydrological principles and techniques, to act as links between the community and external actors. 281 UNDP independent evaluation, India.