GRID-Arendal is a Norwegian foundation with 40 international employees based in Arendal (Norway), with the mandate to support the United Nations in the environmental field. It is the UNEP partner and its Collaborating Center. It promotes informed decision-making and awareness-raising through information management and assessment, capacity-building services, outreach and communications tools, methodologies, and products emphasising supporting developing countries. GRID-Arendal’s 8,526,900 US$ budget (2019) is 42% funded by the Norwegian government through NORAD and the Ministry of Climate and Environment—the rest it raises from external funding sources on a competitive basis.

GRID-Arendal is a project-based results-oriented organisation experienced in managing large international projects, some focusing on Africa, particularly West Africa. The latter included the $US 4 Mil project in support of the 22 Abidjan Convention countries in improved Integrated Ocean based Management; the $US 500K wastewater and sanitation project, funded by the African Development Bank; the regional Blue Carbon projects on sustainable management of carbon, linked to natural coastal and marine ecosystems. GRID-Arendal also worked with Basin Commissions on the Lake Victoria and Zambezi Basin Atlases. Through the UNEP headquarters in Nairobi and the UNEP regional office in Abidjan, GRID-Arendal maintains pan-African networks and is connected to African governments.

GRID-Arendal has extensive experience in providing technological solutions to environmental problems through Earth Observation and remote sensing technologies in the MASTREC and Fragility, Conflict and Security projects; UAV surveillance technology for tracking the illegal fisheries activities in Seychelles in the Fishguard project funded by the National Geographic Marine Protection Prize (together with TMT), Coastal Ecosystem Mapping and Media Viability Project in Abu Dhabi and the national project SeeBee, using drones to map and monitor the Norwegian coastline.

With its successful track record in leading projects in African countries and its local footprint in West Africa and Guinea, GRID-Arendal will effectively coordinate this joint partnership and manage the project activities to deliver high-standard outcomes bringing a revolution in fisheries transparency in Guinea and help the country address IUU fishing alongside with its devastating impacts on the marine environment and population livelihood and economy.