The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has more than 30 years of experience working with indigenous peoples. Since 2003, an average of about 22 per cent of IFAD’s annual lending has supported initiatives for indigenous peoples, mainly in Asia and Latin America. IFAD empowers communities to participate fully in determining strategies for their development and to pursue their own goals and visions by strengthening grass-roots organizations and local governance.
In the process of working closely with indigenous communities, IFAD has learned that effective and sustainable development must be tailored to their identities, values and cultures.
In this context, Indigenous Peoples Assistance Facility (IPAF) co-financed by IFAD, the World Bank, Norway, Canada, Finland and Italy invites applications from indigenous peoples’ organizations and communities, as well as organizations that work with them, for grants to fund projects, innovative approaches and partnerships that promote the development of indigenous peoples and help them fulfill their aspirations.
Grants range from US$20,000 to US$50,000. Applicants must meet specific requirements and their proposals should respond to the needs of indigenous peoples in any of IFAD’s developing Member States. Activities likely to be considered for funding will build on indigenous culture, identity, knowledge, natural resources, intellectual property and human rights.
The objective of the IPAF is to strengthen indigenous peoples’ communities and their organizations by financing micro-projects which foster their self-driven development in the framework of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and generate lessons learned and approaches for replication and up-scaling.
The Facility will consider grants addressing the following areas:
- Increasing indigenous and tribal communities and organizations’ capacity for self-development and engagement in policy processes;
- Innovative pilot projects that contribute to indigenous peoples’ development with culture and identity and build on traditional knowledge, agricultural technologies, agro-biodiversity, natural resource management, community-based forestry, market access, off-farm activities and enterprise development, intellectual property and human rights, gender mainstreaming and women’s empowerment, institutional and organizational strengthening, ethno-tourism, cultural mapping, communication for development;
- Development of partnerships and alliances with other stakeholders, such as governments and international organizations, or between Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations, communities and networks;
- Recommendations made by the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on social and economic development areas;
- Implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples;
- Capacity building of indigenous peoples to adapt to and mitigate climate change impacts.
Deadline for application of is August 31, 2011.
For more information and details, visit this link.