United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations global development branch that advocates for change and nationally-owned solutions to poverty reduction, thereby connecting countries to appropriate knowledge, experience, resources and partners to help people build a better life. On the ground in 166 countries, UNDP works with local actors on indigenous solutions to global/national challenges, on developing local capacities, and on helping developing countries attract and use aid effectively.

The United Nations Development Programme is the United Nations global development branch that advocates for change and nationally-owned solutions to poverty reduction, thereby connecting countries to appropriate knowledge, experience, resources and partners to help people build a better life. On the ground in 166 countries, UNDP works with local actors on indigenous solutions to global/national challenges, on developing local capacities, and on helping developing countries attract and use aid effectively. UNDP’s wide-reaching network links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals, with the focus of helping countries create and share solutions to the challenges of: democratic governance; poverty reduction; crisis prevention and recovery; environment and energy; and HIv/AIDS. In all its activities, UNDP privileges the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women. UNDP continues to: sponsor innovative projects; connect countries to good practices/resources; promote the role of women in development; and bring governments, civil society and outside supporters together to coordinate efforts. The seminal annual Human Development Report, commissioned by the UNDP, focuses the global debates on key development issues, provide new measurement tools, innovative analyses and often controversial policy proposals.

Energy at UNDP

UNDP’s energy activities focus on the following three broad priority areas:

1. strengthening national and local capacity for expanding access to modern energy services for the poor,
2. strengthening national policy frameworks for energy and
3. catalysing financing through market creation/transformation for sustainable energy programmes, particularly renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives.

Its upstream energy activities focus on enabling environment and policies needed to support energy options for sustainable development and the achievement of the MDGs by addressing economic, social and environmental goals simultaneously. UNDP also catalyses financing through market creation or transformation especially to respond to the challenges of energy and climate change. Downstream activities concentrate on integrated energy solutions addressing social, economic and environmental objectives to tackle poverty and promote sustainable development. Actions taken at the local level promote the localization of the achievement of the MDGs and foster sustainable development. The actions also support global sustainable development goals, generating both developmental and environmental outcomes. Through upstream and downstream energy activities, UNDP provides the following services:

• National level coordination as host of the United Nations Country Teams
• Capacity development
• Forging partnerships including resource mobilization

The services that UNDP offers aim at (a) strengthening national institutional and policy frameworks; (b) expanding modern energy services beyond the grid, (c) promoting clean energy technology; and (d) increasing access to financing for energy.