Brief Descrip­tion

UNDP is the United Nations’ global devel­op­ment net­work, an orga­ni­za­tion advo­cat­ing for change and con­nect­ing coun­tries to knowl­edge, expe­ri­ence and resources to help peo­ple build a bet­ter life. We are on the ground in 177 coun­tries, work­ing with them on their own solu­tions to global and national devel­op­ment chal­lenges. As they develop local capac­ity, they draw on the peo­ple of UNDP and our wide range of partners.

Spon­sor Website

http://www.undp.org

Area of Case

Small Grants Pro­gramme (SGP) of UNDP has been work­ing with com­mu­ni­ties around the world to com­bat the most crit­i­cal envi­ron­men­tal prob­lems and has suc­cess­fully demon­strated that sup­port­ing com­mu­ni­ties in their efforts to achieve more sus­tain­able liveli­hoods is not only pos­si­ble, but extremely impor­tant in bring­ing change and achiev­ing global envi­ron­men­tal benefits.

With pres­ence in 122 coun­tries and more than 12,000 grants awarded world­wide, SGP sup­ports projects of non-governmental and community-based orga­ni­za­tions in devel­op­ing coun­tries demon­strat­ing that com­mu­nity action can main­tain the fine bal­ance between human needs and envi­ron­men­tal imperatives.

The main focal areas of the pro­gramme are cli­mate change abate­ment and adap­ta­tion, con­ser­va­tion of bio­di­ver­sity, pro­tec­tion of inter­na­tional waters, reduc­tion of the impact of per­sis­tent organic pol­lu­tants and pre­ven­tion of land degradation.

The case study will focus on some of the key chal­lenges faced by SGP and is intended to pro­vide valu­able inter­ac­tion and broaden aware­ness among attendees.

Brief Descrip­tion

Mis­sion of U.S. Depart­ment of State id to ‘Shape and sus­tain a peace­ful, pros­per­ous, just, and demo­c­ra­tic world and fos­ter con­di­tions for sta­bil­ity and progress for the ben­e­fit of the Amer­i­can peo­ple and peo­ple everywhere’.

Spon­sor Website

http://www.state.gov/

Area of Case

Solar Sis­ters is a social enter­prise busi­ness, sup­ported by U.S. Depart­ment of State, with a mis­sion to empower women with eco­nomic oppor­tu­nity and erad­i­cate energy poverty. 

Solar Sis­ter erad­i­cates energy poverty by empow­er­ing women with eco­nomic oppor­tu­nity.  Solar Sis­ters com­bine the break­through poten­tial of solar tech­nol­ogy with a delib­er­ately woman-centered direct sales net­work to bring light, hope and oppor­tu­nity to even the most remote com­mu­ni­ties in rural Africa. Invest­ing in women is not only the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do.  Solar Sis­ter cre­ates sus­tain­able busi­nesses, pow­ered by smart invest­ment in women entre­pre­neurs. Solar Sis­ters use a mar­ket based pro­gram to dis­trib­ute solar tech­nol­ogy that pro­vides income to women entre­pre­neurs and is the most effec­tive dis­tri­b­u­tion for new tech­nol­ogy to rural households.

The case study will focus on some of the key chal­lenges faced by Solar Sis­ters and is intended to pro­vide valu­able inter­ac­tion and broaden aware­ness among atten­dees in the areas of social inno­va­tion, devel­op­ment and gen­der inclusiveness.