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The Kiwa Initiative aims to build the resilience of ecosystems, communities, and economies of Pacific countries and territories to the impacts of climate change. To achieve this, the Kiwa Initiative supports projects that promote Nature-based Solutions (NbS) (lien onglet). These NbS are defined by IUCN as "actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively".

Particular attention is paid to the implementation of concrete actions with measurable benefits for climate change adaptation, biodiversity and human well-being.

Each project submitted must comply with criteria related to biodiversity protection and climate change adaptation.

The upscaling of cost-effective activities is a key criterion for regional projects.

Several types of projects are supported by the Kiwa Initiative:

• Local projects: Calls for proposals for grants ranging from 25,000 to 400,000 euros. This component is managed by the regional office of IUCN based in Fiji.
• Regional projects: Projects comprised between 1.5 and 5 million euros. The potential project holder has to involve two countries or territories among the 19 eligible countries and territories.

To learn more about the eligibility criteria, please visit our "Apply" page
To learn more about NbS, we invite you to visit our Nature-based Solutions page. You can also visit the website of our partner the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Applicants wishing to respond to the calls for proposals or ideas must be legal entities of public or private not-for-profit organizations. Individuals are not eligible. Businesses and for-profit organisations may not submit projects to the Kiwa Initiative or receive funds directly. They may, however, operate as service providers to a project leader.

Eligible Applicants for local project:

• local or national authorities and public institutions from the 19 eligible countries and territories (find the list here)
• Civil society organisations, community organisations, national NGOs and local associations
• International NGOs provided the project is approved by the national authorities and a local stakeholder is involved in implementation

Eligible applicants for regional project:

• Local or national authorities and public institutions from the 19 eligible countries and territories (find the list here)
• Regional organizations (Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific, CROP) recognized by the Pacific Island States and Territories such as SPC or SPREP and other regional organizations involved in the region
• International NGOs

The potential beneficiary must involve two countries or territories among the 19 eligible countries and territories.

In addition to these eligibility criteria, potential project proponents will be required to comply with the guidelines set out in the calls for ideas. The voting members of the Steering Committee that is to say donors and representatives of the PICTs, will have a careful analysis of the applications and will select the projects that correspond most to the priorities of the Kiwa Initiative.

To learn more about the eligibility criteria, please visit our "Apply" page.

The Secretariat which provides technical, logistics, communication, administrative and financial support to AFD for the management of the Kiwa Initiative. The Secretariat also supports AFD in the monitoring of regional projects.

If you have additional questions after reading:

• Guidelines provided in the call for regional projects
• Our "Apply" page

You can contact the Kiwa Initiative Secretariat: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You can also contact the Technical Assistance which is provided by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP):

• SPC: Ludovic Branlant - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• SPREP: Mathilde Kraft - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The Steering Committee (SC) is the strategic direction body of the Initiative whose role is to provide strategic orientations, recommendations, advice and guidance and to issue opinions concerning funding decisions and support communication, information sharing and coordination between the donors, representatives of Pacific countries and territories, SPC, SPREP and IUCN.

The SC is composed of :

• Voting members: donors and representatives of the Pacific countries and territories
• Observer members: SPC, SPREP and IUCN. The Secretariat is the entity which organizes and facilitates the SC meetings which are held twice a year.

During these meetings, the regional projects are evaluated and can receive 3 opinions:

• Favorable opinion: The project is considered to meet the criteria of the Kiwa Initiative and is in line with the priorities of the Steering Committee (SC) members. Comments can be made and will be taken into account during the appraisal of the project. AFD can begin its appraisal cycle for approximately 6 months that will end with the signature of a financing agreement between AFD and the beneficiary and the delivery of the funds.
• Conditional opinion: The project is considered relevant by the SC voting members, but additional information and/or modifications to the concept note are required. The project proponent is invited to take into account the recommendations of the SC and to re-submit a revised concept note to the SC.Technical assistance can be provided to the applicant.
• Unfavorable opinion: The project is not considered a priority according to the criteria of the Kiwa Initiative.

Check that a call for projects is currently open on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) website.

If you still have questions, after reading the instructions of the call for proposals please contact IUCN: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

All evaluations of local projects are conducted by the IUCN regional office based in Fiji.

• Local project: Your focal point is IUCN: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Regional project: Your focal point is the Secretariat (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). For any communication, it is imperative to respect the Kiwa Initiative communication strategy as well as the communication rules (see Manual of communication rules). All these documents are available on your "Kiwa Initiative Community" space.