The Blue Accelerator Grant Scheme, funded by UNDP, aims to support statutory organisations, private businesses, cooperatives, civil society organisations, non-government organisations and community-based organisations, that have developed highly promising blue economy projects that are aligned to national development priorities and have a compelling business case to support either a pilot phase or a scale-up phase. It is separate from the Blue Bond but is expected to create a pipeline of projects that could then be supported by the Blue Bond, such as through the Blue Investment Fund. This call for proposal seeks well-developed funding proposals for projects that have already done substantial preparatory works and need financial support to rapidly operationalise or scale. Projects in the conceptualization or concept stage are not being solicited by this call for proposal.
Projects that are selected through the grant scheme will be given tailored support from the Drua Incubator of the Fijian Government, UNDP’s Inclusive Growth team, the Accelerator Lab in the Pacific, and established partners from the private sector. Apart from providing technical assistance, the grant scheme will also provide performance-based impact grants to respective project proponents and help attract private sector investors such as venture capitalists and angel investors. Each project will be required to work with the Drua Incubator to establish robust impact indicators. The grant scheme will evaluate projects relative to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with particular reference to SDG 14 targets.
- Who can apply
- Statutory organizations, registered PBs, CSOs, NGOs, and CBOs in Fiji involved in the blue economy space and supporting gender sensitized national development or are either involved in community development in one or more of the priority areas for this grant scheme or are interested in integrating sustainable blue economy approaches into their existing programmes/projects/initiatives.
- Community-Based Organisations (for example youth groups, women’s groups, religious groups, as well as social enterprises) that are involved in community development, are encouraged to apply with a letter of support from local/subnational government partners or registered CSOs and NGOs.
- Applicants are encouraged to submit their letters of partnership with local/subnational government stakeholders, CSO/NGO partners, government gender machinery and government agencies responsible for climate change and disaster risk management. Selected applicants might be required to submit support letters from partner public agencies. Land access/ title rights may also need to be submitted where applicable.
Procedures of submission
- Fill out the Funding Proposal Template and provide all relevant documents (see Annex A)
- Include CVs of lead implementing staff
- Please send 1 & 2 above electronically in one file (PDF format) signed and scanned to the following email: blueacceleratorgrantscheme@gmail.com. If additional clarifications are required, questions can be sent to the same email address indicated above by 27 June 2022. Answers to questions will be provided within two working days and will be posted for the benefit of all applicants.
- The documents can be located on the UNDP website via the link HERE.
Application deadline
The deadline for applications is 30 June 2022 at 5pm Fiji time. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
Contact
For more information, please email the team at blueacceleratorgrantscheme@gmail.com
