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UN Environment Programme (UNEP) received 20 percent of the 2007 "UN21 Awards"
The Environment Programme of the United Nations
has won 3 out of the 15 United Nations' "UN21 Awards" for outstanding initiatives across the United Nations system for the year 2007. The
announcement was made on Friday July 11, 2008 by the UN Secretary General,
Mr. Ban Ki-Moon.
The UNEP programmes that won the award are:
The UN21 Awards were established as part of the
reform effort by the then Secretary General to provide recognition to
staff members of UN for innovation, efficiency and excellence in the
delivery of the organization's programmes and services.
The awards are made annually through
nominations from various UN organizations. The nominee projects are screened
and the final 21 projects are selected by the evaluation teams. The 21
successful projects are further evaluated by a high-level approving panel.
There were more than 70 projects nominated for the 2007
awards from across the global Secretariat, involving over 600 staff members.
The evaluation teams reviewed, evaluated and recommended 21 projects-14
projects for Awards and seven projects for Commendations. The High-Level
Approving Panel reviewed the recommendations made by the evaluation teams.
Only 15 projects were finally selected as winners-nine projects for Awards
and six projects for Commendations.
The brief descriptions of the UNEP projects that made
the N21 for 2007 are provided below (source UNEP website):
The Billion Tree Campaign (BTC) won
the UN21 Award for Substantive Programmes.
Since its launch in 2006, the BTC
– which was inspired by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Wangari Maathai – has
mobilized tree-planting across the planet, with participants ranging from
CEOs to schoolchildren and from governments to community groups.
Over two billion trees have been planted in more than
160 countries, and in May UNEP announced the new goal of planting seven
billion trees by the Copenhagen climate change meeting in 2009.
The Indian Solar Loan Programme,
which has brought solar energy to 100,000 people in India, won the UN21
Award for Field Projects. The initiative, launched in 2003 with the support
of the UN Foundation and the Shell Foundation, works with Indian banks to
bring solar power loans to rural communities that often did not have access
to electricity.
Over the last four years an estimated 100,000 people
have been able to afford clean and reliable solar power thanks to this
self-financing initiative. Today 20 banks with networks of 2,000 branches
are offering competitive solar loans.
The success of the initiative shows that well
targeted investments and well rounded partnerships can prove
transformational on the road to a low carbon society.
Environmental Management of the Iraqi
Marshlands was given a Commendation by the UN21 committee in the
category of 'Field Projects'. The programme, launched in 2004, is helping
the Iraqi Environment Ministry to restore and manage the Iraqi Marshlands –
the largest wetland ecosystem in the Middle East.
By the time the former Iraqi regime collapsed in
2003, these Marshlands, with their rich biodiversity and unique cultural
heritage, had been almost entirely destroyed. Today some 60 per cent of the
Marshlands have water again and up to 22,000 rural residents in the area
have gained access to safe drinking water.
The project underlines how the
environment is central to reconstruction efforts in a post-conflict
situation. It also has wider applications across developing economies in
areas of ecosystem restoration, capacity building in environment management
and environmentally-friendly technologies.
For further details:
UNEP ;
UN.ORG
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