Application Deadline: August 21th, 2017.
The Global Monitoring for Environment and Security in Africa (GMES & Africa), is a joint initiative of the African Union Commission and the European Union, geared towards addressing the growing needs of African countries to access and use Earth Observation (EO) data for the implementation of sustainable development policies on the continent.
The programme will promote a more sustainable management of natural resources by improving decision making process through the provision of additional pertinent information, and improve African policy-makers’ and planners’ capacities to design, implement and monitor national, regional and continental policies, whilst promoting the sustainable management of natural resources through the use of EO data and derived information.
There are three sets of eligibility criteria, relating to:
- Applicant(s) which may request a grant and their partners
- Actions for which a grant may be awarded
- Types of cost, which may be taken into account in setting the amount of the grant
Eligibility of applicants: who may apply?
- In order to be eligible for a grant, an Applicant must:
- Be an African institution with at least five years of demonstrated experience in implementing large-scale EO projects spanning in at least three countries and
- Have at least a 5-year record in the formulation and/or implementation of Earth Observation activities applied to Water & Natural Resources and/or Marine & Coastal Areas in Africa and
- Be an institution coordinating and working directly with at least three national institutions from three different countries to deliver on EO projects and
- Have a regional (or also continental or global) mandate, e.g. beyond the national boarder of the Applicant and
- Be legally registered locally or regionally (the applicant will have to provide the relevant legal documents) and
- Be able to demonstrate their experience and capacity to manage activities corresponding in scale and complexity to those for which a grant has been requested and
- Demonstrate stable sources of finance to ensure the continuity of their organisation throughout the implementation of the proposed action and
- Belong to consortia of national institutions and academia as explained under 2.1.2 (2)- composition of partnerships and;
- Belong to at least one of the following categories: African national or regional organizations, research institutions, universities applying EO in the thematic areas stated in point ii above;
Objectives
General Objectives:
- Maintaining, improving and sustaining local, institutional, human and technical capacities for accessing and using EO data and services for sustainable socio-economic development,
- Contributing to the implementation of the African Space Policy and Strategy, in particular on Earth Observation,
- Providing decision-makers with information and tools needed for the implementation of sustainable socio-economic development at the continental, regional and national levels through their RECs and RICs.
Specific Objectives:
- Consolidating, extending and developing applications for the Water and Natural Resources and the Marine & Coastal Areas Services to adequately provide information to policymakers, scientists, businesses and the public on real time basis,
- Strengthening regional and national capacities to generate and apply EO-based and in-situ information for Water and Natural Resources and the Marine & Coastal Areas Services,
- Raising public awareness on the critical role of Earth Observation in sustainable development,
- Developing a framework for promoting intra-African collaboration and open access to data for Water and Natural Resources and the Marine & Coastal Areas Services.
Grant Areas
- Water & Natural Resources service
- Marine and Coastal Areas service
Grant Information
- For Water and Natural Resources:
- Minimum amount: €1,000,000
- Maximum amount: €2,000,000
- For Marine and Coastal Areas:
- Minimum amount: €1,000,000
- Maximum amount: €2,000,000
For More Information: