SANTIAGO NETWORK - CFP/SN/24039/2026/BRB/034 - Strengthening climate resilience, risk management and recovery through green and blue microfinance in Caribbean Small Island Developing States

Call description

This Santiago Network call concerns technical assistance for climate resilience and recovery through green and blue microfinance. The Secretariat administers the funds through the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS); eligible network members deliver the assistance. Implementation is in Barbados and Grenada, with possible future regional expansion. The programme supports financial institutions to develop climate-responsive products for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), households and vulnerable, climate-exposed groups, in partnership with the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The expected technical assistance duration is 18 months. The call lists 15 February 2027 as the expected agreement start date; this is an expectation rather than a confirmed contract date. The maximum total financial support available for this technical assistance is USD 430,000 and must not be exceeded. This is the call’s stated maximum support, not a separate lot allocation or a confirmed award amount. Applicants are invited to indicate whether they can provide full financing, co-financing or in-kind contributions; the quoted provision does not make these contributions mandatory.

Priorities and eligibility

Santiago Network members may lead an application. Organizations, bodies, networks and experts not yet members may also respond if they submit an expression of interest for membership before the proposal deadline and are subsequently admitted. The call is open to applicants from all countries; it does not specify a country-registration restriction.

Formal eligibility and conflicts of interest are assessed during preliminary screening. Applicants must disclose applicable involvement in preparing the technical assistance request; providing technical support for that request does not itself remove eligibility if fully disclosed. The declarations ask about critical areas, but engagement in one does not automatically lead to exclusion. Capacity, due diligence and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse assessments apply to the selected applicant.

The call requires at least 7 years of experience implementing projects and initiatives related to averting, minimising or addressing loss and damage in the Caribbean, with Barbados and Grenada preferred. It also requires experience in financial-sector capacity building related to loss and damage or climate change in the Caribbean, particularly Barbados and Grenada or similar Caribbean contexts, and at least 7 years implementing similar technical assistance or activities. The FAQ says consortium experience is considered together if each member’s contribution is clear and instructs applicants to disregard the template’s three-year instruction. The revision clarified that similar contexts must be Caribbean contexts.

Preliminary screening is pass/fail. Proposals that pass proceed to technical evaluation; only those reaching the 70% technical threshold have their financial proposals opened. The call uses an 80:20 technical-to-financial weighting and assesses costs, risks and benefits in the combined analysis. Clarifications requested during evaluation cannot change the proposal’s substance.

The full response covers adapted Caribbean climate-finance training, development and piloting of financial products, and institutionalization of the curriculum within UWI. Training begins in Barbados and then moves to Grenada. Expected results include institutional action plans, practical tools, piloted products and a framework for integrating the curriculum into UWI programmes.

Funding and application requirements

Consortia, sub-grants and contracting are permitted. At application, the applicant and every consortium member must be a Santiago Network member or have submitted an expression of interest before the proposal deadline; pending applications may accompany a proposal. Separately, organizations and experts, including subcontractors, undertaking technical work must be members or have applied before the deadline, and only members may conduct material technical activities. The FAQ sets no fixed percentage cap on subcontracted activities or budget, but the lead retains full accountability. Consortium partners must sign exclusivity documentation and may not join more than one proposal; doing so may disqualify all proposals they joined.

Membership is checked against the official database, so separate proof is not required. For a pending expression of interest, the FAQ says its submission confirmation is helpful, although the database can also confirm it. Relevant experience is listed in the proposal and supporting material may be uploaded under Annex 3.

The application includes a proposal, financial proposal or budget, signed declarations, a risk and issues register, and relevant supplementary documentation. Each consortium partner must sign its own declarations. The implementation plan and monitoring, evaluation and learning plan are requested within the proposal process; the supplied passages do not establish that they must be separate attachments. The FAQ says no word limit applies and recommends availability and exclusivity statements for key specialists, not routine personnel; signed statements may be included in the proposal.

What financial evidence is acceptable if a lead applicant cannot provide the requested audited statements for the last 3 years? The assessment table requests them, while the FAQ encourages available statements in response to a specific applicant’s question and separately notes the experience requirement. It does not clearly establish a general waiver. Seek confirmation before relying on substitute evidence.

Which file formats are accepted for the narrative, declarations and supporting documents, and is there an applicant-specific alternative to entering the budget in Grant+? The call requires platform entry, while the FAQ also mentions a downloadable Excel budget template without defining an alternative submission route. The supplied extracts do not resolve the file-format rules. Check the application instructions and platform before submission.

Can technical assistance funds pay for financial product capital, guarantees, insurance premiums or subsidies? The FAQ says support focuses on technical assistance and stresses product sustainability, including attracting capital where needed, but its answer does not explicitly resolve each proposed cost. Confirm cost eligibility before including such expenditure.

The proposal deadline is 23 November 2026. The stated submission route is UNOPS Grant+: applicants create personal and organization profiles, enter proposal information, create the budget in the platform and upload the narrative and other required documents. Proposals and related correspondence must be in English. The supplied passages do not establish an alternative submission channel.

The budget must be in United States dollars, broken down by thematic area, expense subcategory, line item, year and component, with assumptions or justifications. The FAQ permits additional budget lines in the Grant+ tool or downloadable Excel template. Proposals must be net of direct taxes and other taxes and duties. Non-UN implementing partners must budget for an independent end-of-implementation audit for grants over USD 250,000.

Standard indirect costs are capped at 10% of the total overall budget unless the relevant UNOPS authorities specifically approve an exception. Indirect costs on sub-grants must be calculated and presented separately. The grant agreement and UN-to-UN agreement are reference templates for the applicable contracting route, not evidence that either agreement must be submitted as an application attachment.

Recommendations

Technical assessment considers inclusive stakeholder engagement, safeguarding, measurable monitoring and long-term capacity retention, as well as the proposed methodology. Explain how affected groups participate safely in design, how results and learning will be verified, and how UWI and financial institutions will sustain the capacities after support ends. The call encourages disaggregation by sex, age and disability for relevant indicators.

The FAQ places responsibility on the applicant to research financial institutions and previous training with national and regional stakeholders; it does not supply a ready-made institutional selection or curriculum. Use that research to explain proposed institutions, training adaptations and pilot choices, while showing how intended users will shape product design.

A narrow training-only proposal would not cover the full request: the call excludes partial proposals and links training to product pilots and longer-term UWI capacity. Plan the curriculum, institutional action plans, product piloting and UWI handover as connected activities, with partner responsibilities, timing and costs aligned across the technical and financial proposals.