UNDP South Africa

08/08/2025

🎥 Watch | Building Resilient Economies, With Women!

This , we spotlight how our initiatives are contributing to resilient economies for women.

Through these efforts, we are working with women to unlock opportunities to thrive in inclusive energy, digital enterprise, artisan cooperatives, and the biodiversity economy.

These are stories of purpose, partnership, and progress.

We’re not just imagining a more equal economy, we’re building it.

07/08/2025

Watch | Empowering Women to Thrive in the Economy of Today.

What happens when women are equipped with digital skills, business acumen, and a supportive community?

Meet the Ladies in Business Network, a space where female entrepreneurs collaborate, grow, and thrive.

Through our Digital Skills Initiative, with support from GIZ,German International Cooperation South Africa and Embassy of Japan in South Africa, these women gained the tools to market, manage, and expand their businesses in the digital era.

This is more than training, it's a transformation.

Because when you empower one woman, you uplift a family, a community, an economy.

06/08/2025

Africa’s next wave of creative pioneers is here.

Meet the 30 visionary founders from 9 African countries shaping the future of the continent’s creative economy through the timbuktoo Africa Creative Hub Ideation Incubation Programme.

With over 60% of the ventures being women-led, this cohort represents the diverse and innovation-driven spirit of Africa. From design and multimedia to audiovisual, music, and cultural heritage, their ideas are ready to make waves

This is just the beginning. Join us as we take you through their journeys and witness creativity fuelling economic transformation.

United Nations Development Programme - UNDP | UNDP Africa | UVU Africa | Western Cape Government | The Craft and Design Institute

01/08/2025

Behind the Desk with Deshni Pillay!

Meet Deshni Pillay, who leads our Nature, Climate & Environment work at United Nations Development Programme - UNDP 🇿🇦.

From Parliament halls to protected forests, Deshni has spent over two decades connecting people and planet, championing green jobs, biodiversity, and climate justice.
.. and fun fact, she’s a certified Plant Doctor.

Whether she’s working on clean energy or helping women and youth lead nature-based solutions, Deshni is always asking: how can we build a greener, fairer future for all?

🎥 Watch what drives her work.

UNDP Careers

31/07/2025

Artificial Intelligence can help achieve 70% of the , but only if it’s inclusive.

Yet today, the benefits of AI remain deeply unequal. With only 2% of the world’s data centres in Africa, and 1 in 3 people still lack internet access.

We are facing an AI equity gap, and the way forward must be grounded in accessibility to all.

With five years left to meet the 2030 Agenda, 2025 is a defining moment to shape a global digital future that works for all, not just the connected few.

2025 is the year to act: http://bit.ly/4m22cok

28/07/2025

POV: You’re a comms intern at the United Nations Development Programme - UNDP 💼

Writing development stories, filming events, running between meetings, AND still making it to lunch? It’s making a mission possible. 😎

Here’s a behind-the-scenes peek 🎥

23/07/2025

Youth-led dialogue on South Africa’s clean energy future

Facilitated by , this strategic Youth Roundtable unpacked the clean energy transition’s impact on 🇿🇦’s development agenda—echoing the Secretary-General’s call, “A Moment of Opportunity.”

21/07/2025

18/07/2025

Beyond the Desk is back 🎉

Meet Tomas Sales, who heads the United Nations Development Programme - UNDP Sustainable Finance for Africa, leading innovative private sector solutions across the continent.

A strategist by profession, an explorer by nature by nature. But beyond the job title, Tomas is driven by a deep curiosity, always asking what’s on the other side of every challenge

For him, going beyond the desk means uncovering new ideas, new cultures, and new ways to make a difference

Because on the other side of the desk lies a world of possibilities.

11/07/2025

Ever wondered what we do at UNDP South Africa?

Go beyond the titles. Beyond the roles. Beyond the desk.

As we gear up for Season 2 of our Beyond the Desk series—where we spotlight the passion, purpose, and people driving development—we’re taking a moment to look back.

Revisit the stories from Season 1 and get ready to meet more of the faces behind the work.

Watch now: https://bit.ly/4nDwRd2

08/07/2025

From Classrooms to the Green Economy

South Africa's energy future depends on the skills we build today. Through our Energy Efficiency Skills Programme, 198 students in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, 173 of them women, have been trained in practical green economy skills, from solar PV installation to energy auditing.

By investing in youth, especially from rural and historically disadvantaged communities, we’re ensuring a Just Energy Transition that leaves no one behind.

This programme is more than training—it's about inclusion, empowerment, and unlocking pathways from learning to livelihoods.

Read the full story here: https://bit.ly/44jG6aM

GIZ,German International Cooperation South Africa | EWSETA | DHET | IEPA International Energy Training Centre | Gert Sibande College | Ehlanzeni TVET College - Nelspruit campus | Nkangala TVET College |

02/07/2025

READ | Powering the future, one skill at a time.

As South Africa accelerates its Just Energy Transition, building a future-ready workforce is key, and youth are at the centre.

UNDP South Africa, with GIZ,German International Cooperation South Africa, DHET, and EWSETA, proudly celebrated the graduation of 64 graduates in Energy Performance Certificate across Gert Sibande College, Nkangala TVET College, and Ehlanzeni TVET College - Nelspruit campus in Mpumalanga. This builds on earlier training in Limpopo, bringing the total number of trained youth to 198, 87% of whom are women.

These young professionals are now equipped to audit and improve building energy use — a critical skill in a low-carbon economy.

This is more than a graduation — it’s a milestone in advancing equity, employability, and local leadership in the green economy.

📖: https://bit.ly/44laRux