Climate Change: The projects must take into cognizance the likely impacts of climate change and climate variability including climate-related problems already encountered or likely to be encountered at the local level (defined by the project system boundary) and the likely climate-driven impacts on the system. The Projects must include a strategy to identify and address these impacts to ensure that interventions are climate proofed.

Gender Equality: The projects should take into account gender equality aspects. Special attention should be paid to differences between men and women with respect to: access to and use of resources (including but not limited to, generation and use of income); observed practices and patterns of participation in decision making; social beliefs and perceptions; laws, policies, and institutions that may affect men and women’s participation in the project.

Communications: The projects should include its communication strategy, including the audiences’ present awareness level, current practices, media preferences and demographic/psychographic profiles, identifying the target audiences and interrelationships between each communications among stakeholders/ target audience groups, defining communication objectives, formulating key messages which are important to communicate to audiences, and selecting media which will best assist the grantee/ proponent to achieve objectives and desired relationships. Policy analysis should also form a part of communication strategy.