CORPORATE BACKGROUND
The United Nations Development Programme – UNDP works in more than 170 countries and territories around the world, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries develop policies, leadership skills, partnership skills, institutional capacities; and to build resilience to sustain development results. UNDP is working to strengthen new frameworks for sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and climate change.
The organization also supports countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs that will guide global development priorities through 2030.
OFFICE BACKGROUND
As UNDP supports countries on their way to achieving the SDGs, through country programs driven by national development priorities. For Guatemala, the priorities have been focused on the eradication of poverty; the 2022-2025 country programme has set out to contribute to national efforts towards sustainable, resilient, equitable and inclusive development through a participatory and innovative, as the core approach.
UNDP in Guatemala support is structured on the following programmatic priorities: a) Strong institutions; b) Peace, security, and justice; c) Promotion of resilience for adaptation to climate change; d) Sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development. Both the Strategic Plan and the Country Programme have defined the strengthening of Gender Equality and the empowerment of women and girls as a priority area. These priorities are implemented to assist the State of Guatemala to comply with the National Development Priorities, defined in the General Government Policy 2020-2024.
Guatemala faces development challenges in many dimensions as the 2022 Human Development Indexes reveal. These challenges are even larger for populations in vulnerable conditions, including indigenous communities, women, and people with disabilities in places where climate change effects are present. Despite contributing only 0.08% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, Guatemala is among the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change. The rains and tropical storms that the territory suffers such as Mitch in 1998, Agatha in 2010, Eta & Iota in 2020 and the last one, “Julia” in 2022 that caused damage to 4.3 million people, 674 roads and 189 schools. In addition to the pluvial phenomena that have caused serious flooding, other contradictory effects are also present; Drought and changes in rainfall patterns, which have affected various territories, particularly the Dry Corridor, where municipal territories present in average, a low Human Development level (0.497) compared to the metropolitan area (0.792). In these areas agricultural activities have been impacted by the lack of water too, triggering other complications such as migration.
UNDP in Guatemala has also opened the Accelerator Lab since 2021, as part of a network of 91 Labs present in 115 countries. The Accelerator Labs (Acc Lab) are part of the UNDP’s drive to be an incubator for the future, focusing in alternative and innovative ways to accelerate progress towards the 2030 Agenda. The Acc Labs are designed to close the gap between the current practices of international development and Global South Challenges, proposing a bottom-up approach, celebrating local ingenuity, and focusing on the power of grassroots solutions to accelerate the pace of change.
For the 2023, the Acc Labs are performing as an R&D for the Country Offices; Solutions Mapping, Exploration (data-based decision making) and Experimentation (to test grassroots solutions) are part of the new capabilities offer the labs, towards faster action, through learning exchange, iteration, and growing as new approaches to the future of development.
The Guatemala Accelerator Lab has focused on the Climate Change Resilience, with the Energy and Environment Program, having the main entry point in Solid Waste Management towards Circular Economy. As for 2023, the Lab is also working on Climate Change adaptation tackling into Water Scarcity and prototyping efficient water management solutions with farmers.
Job Features
