Mountain Facility

The Mountain Facility is global, multi-partner financing mechanism that supports concrete action on the ground to improve livelihoods and promote sustainable natural resource management in mountains.

It rapidly and dynamically responds to the needs of members of the Mountain Partnership – the United Nations alliance dedicated to mountain people and environments – by providing grants to thematic projects.

Thematic areas of works

The Mountain Facility provides grants to projects based on six areas of work:

1. policy support and institutional strengthening – providing strategic support to develop locally-relevant, mountain-specific policies and bolster institutional frameworks 
2. capacity building – facilitating skill development and knowledge enhancement through workshops, training and online education programmes
3. climate change adaptation and resilience building – promoting best practices for nature-based climate adaptation solutions that strengthen communities’ abilities to respond to shocks
4. natural resources management – championing the sustainable management of mountain resources by promoting traditional and Indigenous Peoples' knowledge and best practices
5. strengthening of local economies – improving the value chains of agro-biodiverse mountain products and enhancing access to training, credit, and extension services
6. data collection and dissemination – enabling effective data collection and analysis for informed decision-making while facilitating widespread sharing of valuable information

Geographic focus

The scope of the Mountain Facility reflects the global geographic focus of the Mountain Partnership.

To date, the Mountain Facility has operated in 14 countries: the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, Guatemala, Lesotho, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Peru, Rwanda, the Philippines, the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Uganda.

The mechanism has provided grants, technical assistance and capacity development to over 100 beneficiary organizations, in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, and other partners.