Forty Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from 10 networks in Ghana have participated in training designed to enhance their capacity to create high-quality proposals for climate change projects, boosting their opportunities to secure funding from the Green Climate Fund and other climate finance sources.

The first 3-day training, organised by HATOF Foundation in Partnership with the Ministry of Finance, Climate Finance Division, held in Dodowa in the Greater Accra region, also improved participants' knowledge of national climate change policies and the Green Climate Fund. It also provided practical skills for developing, implementing, and monitoring climate change projects in line with GCF requirements, investment criteria, and country programs.

The two-year project, titled "Capacity Building and Knowledge Management on Climate Change for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Ghana towards the implementation of the National Determined Contributions," is funded by a $442,968 grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and aims to support the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions.

The training builds upon and strengthens prior and ongoing climate change capacity-building initiatives, ensuring that CSOs in Ghana have access to the latest information on climate trends and risks. It provides them with appropriate training and enhances their understanding of climate financing and strategies for shifting paradigms.

The project also aims to create a functional umbrella platform that will facilitate long-term coordination and engagement between CSOs and the National Designated Authority (NDA), Green Climate Fund (GCF), as well as national and local governments in climate-related processes.

“Against this background, a 16-day proposal writing boot camp is organised to strengthen the capacity of Ghanaian CSOs to develop bankable climate resilience and low-emission project proposals aligned with national policies and priorities and to support the planning, programming, implementation, and monitoring of climate-related projects,” CEO of HATOF Foundation, Dr Samuel Dotse said.

Dr Dotse stated that the platform would enhance cross-sectoral environmental governance and foster a unified stance on critical climate change and development issues. Again, a year Civil Society Climate Change Agenda and Action Plan has been developed to guide the activities of the platform.

He noted that, over the past 20 years, Ghana has received support for various capacity-building and climate change initiatives. While these efforts have laid the groundwork for addressing climate change, there are still significant gaps in capacity and knowledge transfer among Civil Society Organizations.

 “Most national technical and institutional efforts focus on government entities, leaving CSOs under-engaged in climate project planning, design and implementation.”

Dr Dotse also mentioned that participants were expected to enhance their abilities to develop and manage bankable, high-quality climate change proposals that align with national priorities, GCF requirements, investment criteria, and the country's programs and ownership.

He stressed that this would not only enhance their chances of securing funding from the GCF and other climate finance mechanisms but also strengthen their collaborative efforts in planning and implementing the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Participants shared that they have gained a deeper understanding of the GCF, its policies, and procedures, and believe this knowledge will aid them in their work.

For example, Ransford Nii Adjiri Sackey from KASA and Paulina Amenyona from the Rights and Advocacy Initiatives Network (RAIN) mentioned that skills in proposal writing, among other areas, would be particularly beneficial to them.

The participants are expected to progress to intermediate and advanced training, where they will learn to conduct barrier assessments, impact evaluations, and financial analyses to better engage non-state actors with the GCF.