Design and development of IUCN’s proposal for the GEF 8 Call for Proposals for the Inclusive Conservation Initiative (ICI), Phase 2.

AAE provided comprehensive proposal development services to the IUCN for the GEF-8 Call for Proposals, focusing on Phase 2 of the Inclusive Conservation Initiative (ICI). This $25 million project builds on the successes of the GEF-7 ICI, implemented by IUCN and Conservation International (CI).
The GEF-8 ICI Phase 2 encompasses four key components: (1) On-the-ground conservation and sustainable development: a diverse portfolio of activities led by Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) around the world, aligned with GEF-8 strategies to deliver Global Environmental Benefits (GEBs); (2) Capacity building: enhancing the capacity of IPLCs to manage their natural and cultural resources, as well as developing sustainable financing strategies; (3) IPLC Representation and recognition: increasing IPLC representation and recognition at the global level and within large-scale decision-making processes; and (4) Knowledge distillation: extracting and sharing experiences and lessons learned from the ICI and other relevant programs to support broader IPLC initiatives worldwide. ​​Specific activities carried out by AAE included: collaborative development with a wide range of Indigenous Peoples experts from IUCN, strategic-expert advice and proposal development.