Promotion des emplois décents dans l'économie bleue et verte

The Republic of Equatorial Guinea is a country rich in natural resources and characterized by a young population, with young people making up to more than 60% of the entire population. Given its particular geography, the country has significant opportunity to promote blue and green economy activities, which could contribute to poverty eradication and sustainable development by creating employment opportunities (the youth unemployment rate is currently above 20%), while preserving the proper functioning of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Indeed, in a context marked by the perverse effects of climate change, ecosystem degradation and the loss of natural resources, more sustainable patterns of production and consumption must be supported. This will require a drastic reduction in the current misuse of natural resources for a more sustainable exploitation today and in the future. In this spirit, UNDP, in partnership with the ILO, wants to support the country to create the conditions for the sustainable development of its natural capital while maximizing the national potential for creating decent jobs through the promotion of a blue and green economy-related activities. The national context is characterized by the existence of small initiatives and micro-, small-. and medium-sized enterprises that operate in some sectors of activity related to the blue and green economy. These include mainly fishery, aquaculture, and small-scale agriculture. Potential activities around natural capital management that can be promoted include access to renewable energy in rural area, sanitation, waste collection and recycling, reforestation, protection of coastal areas, etc. These initiatives, which could greatly involve young people, could take place in several agro-ecological zones in the country. However, in the absence of an institutional framework and information system on the blue and green economy, as an entry point it is important to assess the full national potential for natural capital promotion activities, both ongoing and those that can be developed to create more added value and jobs for communities, youth and women. Moreover, private larger investors and companies, which could be a reliable source of financing, does not currently support smaller companies operating in the blue and green economy due to lack of information and appropriate investment models. Based on the above, in partnership with ILO, UNDP aims to support the country in: (i) assessing the national context in terms of existing and potential activities and small initiatives around the blue and green economy promotion, including the profiling of development partners in this area, (ii) defining an institutional, strategic and monitoring-assessment framework for activities promoting the blue and green economy, and creating decent jobs including from the promotion of high labour intensive activities in the blue and green economy, (iii) identifying, training and supporting, including through a competitive grant component, young people and women operating in the promotion of the blue and green economy in order to develop viable small businesses and decent jobs, (iv) mobilizing the private sector, multinationals, employers' organizations, and other partners to support the empowerment of young people and women promoters of aquatic and terrestrial natural capital conservation initiatives and businesses. Given the complexity of the institutional context of Equatorial Guinea and for more efficient monitoring issues, the proposal foresees the establishment of a small management unit exclusively dedicated to this project.

Project symbol

GNQ/21/126/99

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Yaounde

Start date

11/05/2021

End date

31/12/2021

Total allocation

235000

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

148450

Development Partners

United Nations Development Programme

Country/Countries

Equatorial Guinea

Outcomes

Outcome 3: Economic, social and environmental transitions for full, productive and freely chosen employment and decent work for all