New York, 23 August 2021: The Board of Directors of the India, Brazil and South Africa Facility for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation (IBSA Fund) convened to review progress across the project portfolio, and appraise detailed project documents and concept note proposals under review.
The Board approved initiatives amounting to $5 million. Two projects for Africa:
- Addressing Water, Health and Poverty Nexus through WASH initiatives for COVID-19 and Climate Change responses in Eswatini to be implemented jointly with UNDP, and
- Restoration and monitoring of degraded land in the groundnut basin of the Saloum Delta in Senegal, to be implemented jointly with UNESCO.
“Improving access to water and sanitation for the urban poor in Africa, and restoring lands impacted by desertification to enable the sustainability of rural livelihoods are central to Africa’s development. The project we are approving todays are very relevant and meaningful interventions.” – affirmed H.E. Mr. Xolisa Mfundiso Mabhongo, Deputy Permanent Representative of South Africa to the United Nations and Chair of the IBSA Fund.
The Board also approved the ‘Scaling Solar Applications for Agricultural’ Use project, to be implemented by the International Solar Alliance and UNDP for the benefit of 10 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific.
“Expanding access to energy through renewable sources is a prime example of how the world can overcoming poverty while preserving environmental sustainability”—said H.E. Mr. Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur, Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations.
In addition, the Board gave its approval for the proposal for the Republic of Congo, Enhancing Smallholder Farmers’ Access to Local Markets through South-South Cooperation, giving it the green light to move into detailed formulation.
H.E. Mr. João Genésio de Almeida Filho, Deputy Permanent Representative of Brazil welcomed providing an emphasis to technical cooperation elements with the implementation of South-South projects. “The expertise, best practices and experiences successfully addressing similar development challenges within our countries complement with great value the financial resources invested in projects in support of these fellow developing countries.”
As Secretariat and Fund Manager of the IBSA Fund, UNOSSC facilitates the project cycle and coordination across the portfolio, UN System and stakeholders. “We are very happy to support the IBSA Fund in partnership with UN system, delivering concrete yet impactful results on the ground. Thanks to its highly engaged and insightful Board of Directors, the latest project and proposal approvals display once again great promise to advance the Sustainable Development Goals through South-South and Triangular cooperation.” – commented Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, Deputy Director for Programme and Operations of UNOSSC.