UNDP has been one of the most active and successful actors in the field of and environmental issues both in Kosovo and the region. We are engaged, among others, in supporting public institutions to improve environmental data gathering and reporting such as with the Kosovo Hydrometeorology Institute and Kosovo Environmental Protection Agency. UNDP Kosovo worked with the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MESP) in establishing a solid legal and institutional framework for environmental policymaking in Kosovo, environmental protection, and in addressing the climate change challenges.

With regards to environmental data, the Kosovo Environment Protection Agency (KEPA) were trained in the Green House Gas (GHG) monitoring and reporting procedures as required by Kyoto Protocol and EU/EC standards. Additionally, the second Kosovo-wide Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory for 2010-2013 was conducted feeding into the climate policy making.

Over the last years, air pollution has gained increased relevance on the global health agenda. It is the biggest environmental risk to health, responsible for the premature deaths of 6.5 million people every year globally. Children, elderly people and those with pre-existing health conditions are the most vulnerable. Economic burden from air pollution in general sums up annually to about US$ 1.6 trillion in the European Region, which is approximately 10% of the GDP of the European Union . Kosovo is no exception for this trend. Environmental conditions in Kosovo are often inadequate and lead to a high environmental burden of disease as documented in several studies.Environment and health issues are overlapping with many sectors (such as health, environmental, urban planning, transport, economy, energy, housing, social services) and can be affected by many actions and decisions within these sectors that are not considered primarily from health perspective. As a convener of different stakeholders, the UN system has a convening role in this complex and intersectoral issue.Public interest in the environment and health status has increased in the recent years. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of public awareness on many major environmental hazards. Surveys in the Kosovo population indicate that for general priorities, environmental protection ranked low.

The project’s overall goal is to contribute to the reduction of the environment-related disease burden on population health and catalyze follow-up activities.  In doing so, the project will contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Kosovo, specifically: Ensure Healthy Lives and Promote Well-being for All Ages (SDG 3); Achieving Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7); Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8); Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG 11); and Climate Action (SDG 13).The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning is currently designing, implementing and managing various initiatives in all its departments and divisions. In our case technical expertise is required from Hydrometeorology Institute of Kosovo, on capacity building of its staff at the air pollution department on standard operating method for determination of BTX in the air, as per EN 14662: 2005 and 16017: 2003.

Ukraine has a long list of environmental reform priorities. However, the speed of the reforms in the area of sustainable energy and environment (SEE) is slowed down by the difficulties in adopting the needed legislation related to the capacity of the Parliament and a large number of low-quality legal initiatives. The recent legislation breakthroughs and the existing leadership in the Government and Parliament in this area could be jeopardized by the anticipated 2019 elections.

To speed up the sustainable energy and environment (SEE) related reforms and ensure representation of the SEE issues in the programmes of the next President and the next Parliament, UNDP seeks to improve the capacity of the Parliament of Ukraine and enhance environmental advocacy among politicians, mass media and the public.

The Project aims to support the Parliament members and the relevant Parliament Committees (specifically, on Environmental Policy, Nature Resources Utilization and Elimination of the Consequences of Chornobyl Catastrophe and on Fuel and Energy Complex, Nuclear Policy and Nuclear Safety) with quality analytical support on the legislation making, organizing stakeholders’ consultations, round tables, development of communication products, and engagement of various stakeholders into the SEE issues.

The analytical support envisioned by the Project will cover a wide range of issues in SEE area, including but not limited to: climate change mitigation and adaption; energy efficiency; waste management; natural resources management; environmental pollution, etc. A special attention will be made on mitigating negative environmental consequences of the ongoing military conflict in the east of Ukraine, as well as to the greening of the development path of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The overall work of the Secretariat will be based on the sustainable development principles and where possible and necessary will link with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

To ensure the implementation of the Project and day-to-day advisory support to the Parliament on SEE policy UNDP is seeking to hire a National Consultant to provide analytical and expert support to the Parliamentary Committee on Environmental Policy, Nature Resources Utilization and Elimination of the Consequences of Chornobyl Catastrophe, its members and staff on the issues of environment and sustainable development.

With the SDC support, this programme offers young entrepreneurs from low and middle income countries a support package that includes training, mentorship and seed funding opportunities to turn their water/sanitation initiative in a social business. The successful 2017 and 2018 editions have empowered already 19 entrepreneurs, distributed more than €84,000 in seed funding and benefited 15,000 people through their pilot projects. 

For its YWF 2019 Young Water Solutions will offer 10 young people (‘’Fellows’’) the possibility to participate in a one-month start-up training in Europe (delivered by our partner cewas). Fellows will also be assigned mentors, get the chance to exponentially increase their supporting networks in the water and entrepreneurship sectors, and apply for seed-funding for the first steps of implementation of their social enterprises. As we prioritize young people from disadvantaged contexts with great ideas but little access to resources, we need to double our communication efforts to make sure this call reaches as many young people and local youth groups as possible. 

Please find attached short communication guidelines with links to download different communication materials in English, French and Spanish and examples of emails and posts for social media. 

Links related to the call:

• Link to the application form: https://bit.ly/2BV7xdh

• Link to download the Terms of Reference: https://bit.ly/2TVZBiO

• Link to download the Application Guidelines: https://goo.gl/ZomMnn

• More information: www.youngwaterfellowship.org  

• Email for questions or technical problems: ywfellowship@youngwatersolutions.org