Jointly We Think of the Future

Enviromental protection and natural resource restoration are for many of us  important parts of our daily lives, we try to make small steps of great importance. Several civic associations, including ETP Slovakia, have found their own way to achieve sustainable development. Their innovative environmental solutions were supported by the GEF Small Grants Programme.

This programme provides selected projects with not only financial but also technical assistance. The programme is funded through the GEF (Global Environmental Facility) and implemented via the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Programme Services (UNOPS) in more than 120 countries.

In the second call of the national GEF Small Grants Programme also our project From a Shack to 3E (Ecological and Energy Efficient) House which helps to preserve and restore natural potential a the country, for exampleby using recycled materials in self-help house construction in marginalized Roma communities in Eastern Slovakia was selected

We believe that responsible public officers from the Ministries and other public institutions, such as the State Housing Development Fund, the Office of the Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities, the Association of Towns and Municipalities of Slovakia will find inspiration in the project‘s good practices  and will subsequently implement them so that not only four or ten families,  but  also hundreds of other families living in undignified and degrading conditions have a chance to improve their living standards by getting involved in self-help house construction.

According to the Atlas of Roma Communities published in 2013, more than 15,000 families from marginalized Roma communities are in the urgent need of new housing, as almost 8,900 households are illegal and 47% of them are shacks that do not comply with the requirements of the decent home standards.

If you want to learn more about the GEF Small Grants Programme or our project From a Shack to 3E House, please read the attached SGP Programme Newsletter (The GEF Small Grants Programme). Newsletter sgp c2 – April 2014