Readiness process: From proposal development to approval

As a starting point for readiness proposal development, please consider the following steps (these steps are provided as a suggestion, however, the actual process will depend on the country context):

1. Identify the needs of the health sector in relation to climate change. If your country’s action plans have been already established, such plans could serve a good reference point;
2. Review the with the GCF Readiness and Preparatory Support Programme Guidebook to match your country needs with eligible activities for the Readiness Programme;
3. In partnership with the Ministry of Health (MoH) formulate the needs and categorize them into one or more of the five relevant funding objectives listed above;
4. With the MoH, inform your NDA that WHO is now a delivery partner of Readiness Programme and communicate the identified needs to the NDA;
5. Undertake a trilateral discussion between NDA, WHO and GCF Secretariat (Regional Officers in DCP) on the potential proposal. This communication should be ongoing throughout the proposal development process;
6. Determine the NDA’s interest in the proposed activities and, with the MoH, discuss the opportunity for WHO to access readiness funds could be accessed as a delivery partner;
7. Check with the NDA the availability of readiness funds under the two funding options, considering other readiness proposals that have been submitted or are under development;
8. Complete the required documentation (listed in the readiness proposal template) in partnership with the MoH and any other partners and provide to the NDA for submission.

The PPF is a Project Preparation Facility under the readiness support program set up to help countries develop fully-fledged proposals for submission to the GCF. There are a number of studies that should inform the proposal development and often these are costly in terms of financial and human resources. Through the PPF, the GCF tries to reduce the burden no countries to help them design proposals that meet the GCF objectives and key result areas. 

Up to $1.5 billion is available for each single project through the PPF. To apply for the funds, a specific template for the PPF and a concept note endorsed by the GCF is required. 

There are no deadlines for submitting a proposal to access the USD 3 million one-time funding bucket for NAP/adaptation planning.

The following dates are the current submission deadlines for proposals requesting access to the USD 1 million per year (i.e. all non-NAP (/H-NAP) proposals),

There are two important deadlines for proposals to be considered for the 2021 budget year:

• 30 June 2021: NDA submission of a proposal through the GCF submission system (Fluxx) in order to be considered for the 2021 budget cap year
• 31 December 2021: Proposals must be approved by the Secretariat and signed for approval by the Deputy Executive Director, GCF

NOTE:

Kindly note that the ability of the Secretariat to approve submitted proposals depends on the quality of proposals initially submitted. In addition, please be advised that, during the proposal review-revision process, the Secretariat also relies on NDAs and Delivery Partners to incorporate Secretariat feedback and resubmit revised proposals in an efficient manner. Thus, the Secretariat cannot guarantee that proposals submitted by 30 June 2021 will be approved by 31 December 2021. Proposals will be counted against the annual cap according to the date they are approved, not the date they are submitted.

The year it is approved.  For example, if a country submits a readiness proposal in June 2021 but it is not approved until March 2022 it will be part of the USD 1 million cap for 2022.

The GCF Secretariat aims to process approval of all readiness grants within 90 business days from submission date.  For National Adaptation Plan (NAP)/adaptation planning proposals, the GCF Secretariat aims to approve proposals in 110 business days.  However, this does not count the time required for revisions to proposals by the Nationally Designated Authority and/or delivery partner.  On average, for regular readiness proposals, the time from submission to first tranche disbursement is 180 – 200 days.  

Yes, GCF encourages countries to contact their regional offices for support. You can find the contact details for the regional advisor of your country here. GCF regional focal points can provide useful context for potential proposals, including best practices and lessons learned from other countries and successful proposals. The requests for support are to come from the NDA, that’s why it is very important that the NDA communicates its agreement to submit a WHO Readiness Proposal on health as soon as possible. 

NDAs may have multiple readiness grants under implementation simultaneously up to the maximum amounts specified above.

Yes, you may access readiness funds while preparing a funding proposal as long as your country has not yet accessed the full USD 1 million cap/year of available readiness funds. However, the funds cannot be used to develop a full project proposal.  Since the development and potential approval of a full proposal is a long process, accessing readiness funds may be a good way to increase health representation within the GCF portfolio.