GGGI has completed the delivery of the VUT-RS-005 Readiness grant “Enhancing Vanuatu’s Ability to Seek Accreditation and Direct Access to the GCF”, approved in December 2019, focused on supporting the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management (MFEM) towards becoming the country’s first national Direct Access Entity (DAE) for Vanuatu. This Readiness grant will build on the results of the previous project with a particular focus on: 

• Developing an NDA Project Development Handbook that will guide NDA and the Climate Finance Working Group in project development. 
• Developing a national strategy on accreditation that will serve as a policy guide for direct access includes the information and action plans on the prioritized pipeline of projects and timeline of accreditation for MFEM and other government ministries. 
• Strengthening the capacity of NDA and in-country key stakeholders in project appraisal, development and management, aligned with the new NDA Project Development Handbook and national strategy on accreditation. 
• Support the submission of MFEM accreditation application to the GCF by improving MFEM’s capacity, policy and procedures. 
• Developing or improving two prioritized concept notes for submission to GCF and a pre-feasibility study for one prioritized or more concept notes for a priority sector. 

The Readiness grant beneficiaries include: MFEM, the Ministry of Climate Change Adaptation, Meteorology, Geo-Hazards, Environment, Energy and Disaster Management (MoCC) and the Secretariat of the National Advisory Board on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction (NAB). The indirect beneficiaries include other key relevant agencies, national and subnational governments, non-state actors, private sectors, proponents submitting project concept notes, and local CSOs representing communities and vulnerable groups.