Round three of the EGPS`Emergency Support Window for Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) communities impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is now open. Round three is for projects with over $50,000 budget and will be administered using individual calls for Expressions of Interest (EOI) through the World Bank's E-consult platform. Registration is required to be eligible to apply.
The following EOI have been released:
- eConsult# 1274387 Reducing Mercury and Boosting Gold Miners Earnings in Colombia: Public-private partnerships for development
- eConsult# 1275120 Scaling Up and Out: Innovating Gemstone Supply Chains in East Africa
- eConsult# 1274377 Supporting the Formalization of Artisanal and Small-scale gold miners through the development of a gold trading social enterprise in Burkina Faso
- eConsult# 1274372 Mentoring Women Community Leaders in Artisanal and Small-scale Mining as agents of Formalization in Bolivia
Each EOI includes a budget estimate and a specified deadline for response
For this round, EGPS focuses on the themes below. These themes are based on on-going discussions with partners on the ground in ASM areas, data collected on the impacts of COVID-19, and proposals submitted under Round one and two.
- Support to revitalisation of trade and value chains, with a focus on scaling up country pilots, trialing new models at a country level and looking towards regional solutions.
- Women as critical agents of formalization. Specifically, women-led solutions by women's mining cooperatives and associations.
- Improving access to finance focusing on due diligence, formalisation and baseline studies on optimal financial models for mining cooperatives.
- Scaling up outreach and capacity building to prevent COVID-19 transmission in the mines.
- Expanding gemstone marketing strategies for small-scale miners. Preference will be given to digital efforts that bring miners from several countries together to educate and learn from one another.
- Building resilience of mining entities through village savings groups and other forms of cooperative savings models.
- Increase level of understanding of the impacts of COVID-19 on ASM in Southern Africa.
- Enhancing health and safety standards applied at mines, with emphasis on application of a progressive set of standards across several mines and countries.
In addition to the above themes, EGPS has set aside additional funding for Round 1 awardees for ‘scale-out’, ‘scopeout’ or on a ‘prolonged’ basis. Click here for more information on elegibility and application.
Eligible Locations: Countries eligible for Round 3 will be defined based on the themes above.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria
In each proposal, should government entities be partners or beneficiaries, letters of support from the relevant government entities must be included in the submission. Failure to do so will lead to automatic disqualification.
Consortiums are welcome. Consortiums which include ASM associations, networks and cooperatives will be viewed favorably.
Readiness to implement immediately is a key selection criterion. Applicants should have staff secured and in place to commence activities as soon as the grant is awarded. Applications that do not have staff secured at the time of their proposal submission will be disqualified.
Application
Round 3 will be administered using the World Bank's E-consult platform. Familiarise your organisation with its operation. Registration is required and should be done early to be eligible to apply.
Individual calls for Expressions of Interest (EOI) corresponding to the themes above will be released under E-Consult from April 26, 2021. The process will be phased with an EOI submitted first. The EOI will contain budget estimates for the activity.
For any questions, please send an email with “NOTICE: ASM COVID-19 Window call for proposal” in the subject line to egps@worldbank.org.