The ESP small grants program represents a key component of ESP’s strategy for improving advocacy and behavior change in watershed management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental service delivery in the priority provinces of North and West Sumatera, East and West Java, and DKI Jakarta and the four special imperative areas of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Manado in North Sulawesi and Manokwari and Jayapura in Papua.

The nature of the small grants program is outlined under the Action Memorandum for Mission Director of July 13, 2004 (USAID waiver) attached to this manual. Basically the grants under contracts (GUCs) shall be limited to the following:

• The total value of any individual grant to any organization shall not exceed $25,000
• USAID will be significantly involved in establishing selection criteria and must approve the actual selection of grantees
• The contractor must apply the same requirements that would apply to USAID-executed grants and
• USAID must retain in the contract the ability to terminate the grant activities unilaterally in extraordinary circumstances

The principle objectives of the ESP Small Grants Program are to:

• Organize and integrate ESP activities at local level in order to meet the objectives articulated in the respective work plan and ultimately the Higher Quality Basic Human Services strategic objective which will focus on the interdependence of health and the environment and their effect on health outcome
• Build partnerships and networks of local stakeholders to address the urgent need for improving advocacy and behavior change in watershed management, biodiversity conservation, and environmental service delivery
• Demonstrate community-level strategies and technologies that will improve watershed management and the delivery of key environmental services such as clean water, sanitation and solid waste management which are critical to the ultimate goal of improving child survival in the priority areas and special imperative areas by reducing the prevalence of childhood diarrhea in children under five
• Draw lessons from community-level experiences, and support the replication of successful community-level strategies and innovations among ESP partners at local level
• Increase the capacity of local NGOs and other non-governmental institutions to deliver watershed management services, conservation management services, municipal water services, municipal water financing services, solid waste management services, and water sanitation services to the communities

The scope of grant applications must meet one of the above principle objectives in order to be considered for funding.