UNDP’s overarching vision is to help countries achieve the simultaneous eradication of poverty and significant reduction of inequalities and exclusion. The UNDP Strategic Plan 2014-2017 identifies three priority areas of work: sustainable development pathways, inclusive and effective democratic governance, and resilience. The objective of the UNDP Global Environmental Finance (UNDP-GEF) unit, which falls under the Sustainable Development cluster, is to assist countries to access environmental finance for sustainable development. Within the UNDP-GEF unit, the sustainable energy team focuses primarily on promoting access to clean and affordable energy services and promoting low emission and climate resilient urban and transport infrastructure.
Currently, there are 620 million people without access to electricity in Africa. In many countries on the continent, fewer than half of urban dwellers have electricity access, and in rural areas the proportion of people connected to a power grid is sharply lower. There is tremendous potential for decentralized, distributed renewable energy generation, such as mini-grids, in Africa. It is projected that renewable energy will grow from 5% of total power production in 2014 to 22% in 2030, with the majority being solar. Another important phenomenon is the rapid pace of urbanization in many countries across the continent, which can lead to congestion and strain infrastructure, lowering productivity. UNDP seeks to play an important role in bringing about an energy market transformation and contributing to sustainable cities.
UNDP is an accredited implementing entity for the Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund, among other environmental vertical funds. UNDP helps countries develop and implement programmes and projects with global environmental benefits, such as GHG emissions reduction, and adaptation benefits for the purpose of sustainable development.
In the context of the above, the UNDP-GEF team is currently interested in hosting an intern to support the team’s planned activities in 2016. The internship will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa is based.
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