Link to Atlas Project

Documents

Overview

Unipod Sierra Leone

Call for Applications

Support for Innovators (Women and Youth) in Renewable Innovative Energy Solutions for Sustainable Agriculture

Deadline: 18th October 2024

University Innovation Pods (UniPod) Project is part of the new UNDP Africa Timbuktoo Initiative involving 13 countries (Sierra Leone, Mali, South Sudan, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda, Mauritania, Togo, Liberia, Lesotho, Guinea, Zambia and Benin). Timbuktoo initiative is a new development model bridging the gap between research and development on the one hand, and product creation on the other, to ensure that Africa’s youth are the catalysts sparking the continent’s industrial drive. The UniPod Project is multi-pronged and focuses on supporting and growing innovative, scalable, and impactful entrepreneurship by African young people, while relying on a springboard of partners who together contribute meaningfully to building an African youth innovation and start-up ecosystem.

In Sierra Leone, the main UniPod facility is being established in collaboration with the University of Sierra Leone and hosted at the Fourah Bay College. In addition, there are Fabrication Labs at four public universities (University of Makeni, Ernest Bai Koroma University, Eastern University, and Njala University) that will feed into the main UniPod a, University of Sierra Leone.

One of the UniPod interventions is to identify and scale-up renewable green energy innovative solutions for women and youth entrepreneurs. This will entail investment grants, technical assistance, and incubation through UniPod to scale up the selected solutions, focusing on affordability, sustainability, and community empowerment. In view of the above, UNDP is calling for applications from ambitious innovators, particularly women and youth, working in groups of 2-5 individuals or entities not older than one year, with innovative ideas on green renewable energy solutions tailored for sustainable agriculture in Sierra Leone.

Who Can Apply:

This call is for ambitious innovators, particularly women and youth, working in groups of 2-5 individuals or entities not older than one year, with innovative ideas on green renewable energy solutions tailored for sustainable agriculture in Sierra Leone.

Through the UniPod initiative, these innovators will receive targeted support to scale and refine their ideas in the following renewable energy areas:

• Solar Energy: Solutions that harness solar power for agricultural production and energy needs.
• Wind Energy: Innovations using wind power to support farming and processing activities.
• Biomass Energy: The use of organic materials, such as agricultural waste, for sustainable energy production.
• Hydropower: Small-scale water energy solutions to support agricultural systems.
• Energy Efficiency Technologies: Solutions focused on improving energy usage and reducing waste in agricultural processes.

This initiative offers financial support, technical assistance, and fosters collaboration for further innovation and knowledge-sharing.

How to apply:

Applications from prospective innovators from anywhere in Sierra Leone should be submitted online by submitting a form HERE

Application Link: https://forms.office.com/e/cX8nrFCaB9 

Submission Deadline: The deadline for applications is 1:00 pm on 18th of October 2024. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

UNDP implements a policy of zero tolerance on proscribed practices, including fraud, corruption, collusion, unethical practices, and obstruction. UNDP is committed to preventing, identifying, and addressing all acts of fraud and corrupt practices against UNDP as well as third parties involved in UNDP activities. (See http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Transparency/UNDP_Anti_Fraud_Polic y_English_FINAL_june_2011.pdf and http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/operations/procurement/protestandsanctions/ for full description of the policies). In responding to this Call for Applications, UNDP requires all Applicants to conduct themselves in a professional, objective, and impartial manner, and they must at all times hold UNDP’s interest’s paramount. Applicants must strictly avoid conflicts with other assignments or their own interests, and act without consideration for future work. All Applicants found to have a conflict of interest shall be disqualified. Without limitation on the generality of the above, applicants, and any of their affiliates, shall be considered to have a conflict of interest with one or more parties in this solicitation process, if they: a) Are or have been associated in the past, with a firm or any of its affiliates which have been engaged UNDP to provide services for the preparation of the design, Terms of Reference, and other documents to be used in this competitive selection process; b) Were involved in the preparation and/or design of the programme/project related to the services requested under this Call for Applications; or c) Are found to be in conflict for any other reason, as may be established by, or at the discretion of, UNDP. In the event of any uncertainty in the interpretation of what is potentially a conflict of interest, applicants must disclose the condition to UNDP and seek UNDP’s confirmation on whether such conflict exists.