UNDP – UNDP in Ghana has set up a “communication club” to engage students journalists on development issues. 

Thanks to the club, the members will learn about the nature of development projects, the issues they try to tackle. They will also learn how to identify impacts and lessons learned.

Read more – http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/november/ghana-launches-development-communication-club.en

IPS – A basket fund aimed at increasing the economic participation of women in Zimbabwe, has been relaunched after a start which faltered due to the delayed appointment of the new government earlier this year.

The fund, properly known as the Gender Support Programme, seeks to improve gender equality and equity in Zimbabwe. 

Speaking at the launch of the fund on June 17, Udo Etukudo, an MDG specialist and economist with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the cost of not investing in gender equality in Zimbabwe was enormous.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49542

IPS – The consequences of the Doha Round of trade talks for larger developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa could include job losses and deindustrialisation if a new study forecasting how Kenya is set to be affected is anything to go by.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=49311

UNDP – Until recently, the villages of Hon and Koussoukpa, like many others, (100 kilometers from Cotonou, Benin’s economic capital) got their light from oil lamps and candles, suffering all the damage to health and the environment. The darkness also emphasized the sense of danger and rural isolation.

Today, solar energy supplies 308 households in Hon and Koussoukpa. It is easy for residents to light their homes, charge their mobile telephones and even access educational community television .

The project is the result of a partnership between UNDP, the Association béninoise pour l’éveil et le développement, the Global Environment Facility’s microfinance programme and Barefoot College, an NGO. UNDP plans to expand the initiative to a number of villages in Benin, creating rural electrification centers using solar energy or renewable energy sources.

Read more – http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/october/villages-solaires-du-benin.en

UNDP – With the help of UNDP, in collaboration with the government, Nigeria is making great strides ahead in becoming green, thanks to a USD 13 million project that will phase out chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) from household equipment like refrigerators and air conditioners.

Nigeria has few firms that produce refrigerators, but the country  is a booming  market for second-hand air conditioners and refrigerators scrapped from Europe. These cooling equipments, which have become a necessity for the majority of Nigerians, use gases that eat away at the ozone layer which protects the Earth from the harmful rays of the sun. 

Managed by UNDP’s Ozone Programme and Management Implementation Unit (OPIAMU), the project will get both refrigerator manufacturers and the various associations  of second hand fridges and air conditioner traders to switch from CFCs to more ozone-friendly substances.

Read more – http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/october/in-nigeria-cfcs-will-soon-be-a-thing-of-the-past.en

Johannesburg/Dakar, 5 October 2009—Migration is a way for Africans to improve their lives, but most seeking to move, face significant barriers, particularly across borders, according to the 2009 Human Development Report launched today.

The Report, Overcoming barriers: Human mobility and development, finds that many restrictions and inequalities prevent Africans from moving. Restrictions imposed by the limited opportunities of the low-skilled to move across borders mean that money transfers, or remittances do not tend to flow directly to the poorest families, nor to the poorest countries. However, when given the chance, Africans potentially have the most to gain from seeking opportunities elsewhere.

This is the latest publication in a series of global Human Development Reports, which aim to frame debate on some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity, from climate change to human rights. It is an independent report commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme.

Read more – http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/2009/june/world-environment-day/africans-with-most-to-gain-face-tough-barriers-to-movement.en?categoryID=349431&lang=en

Sunday, Istanbul, 5 October 2009 – Japan and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have committed a grant of USD 1,000,000 to the African Training and Management Services Project (ATMS) from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA). In a ceremony organized on the side of the World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Istanbul, a grant agreement was signed today by AfDB Private Sector Operations Director, Mr. Tim Turner and ATMS Chairman Mr. J. Berteling.

The technical assistance contribution from FAPA will be used to sponsor Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa through capacity building services to grow and succeed, and to create employment opportunities. Specifically, FAPA funds will be applied through the ATMS Foundation to provide interim-management / placement services and in-situ training to SMEs to address management skills shortcomings. These services are provided by AMSCO (African Management Services Company), the executing agent of the ATMS project, which carries out the operational part of the ATMS project.

The ATMS project is an ongoing unique collaboration between the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), each with a specific role in the project. The ATMS Project is structured as a UNDP Regional Project, while the IFC acts as the Executing Agency and AfDB as the Regional Cooperating Agency, supported by the African governments. The project consists of two interrelated components: AMSCO BV and the ATMS Foundation.

Read more – http://www.afdb.org/en/news-events/article/japan-and-afdb-commit-usd-1-million-technical-assistance-grant-for-sme-capacity-building-in-africa-5156/

5 October 2009 – The world’s countries continue to record substantial improvements in human development but vast inequalities still exist between rich and poor States, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) warned today as it unveiled its annual measure of progress in human well-being.

The Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measure of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, was this year calculated for 182 countries and territories – a record number – and released today as part of the annual Human Development Report.

Read more – http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32428&Cr=human+development&Cr1=