NIR Programme

Sustainability Impact Accelerator

The Sustainability Impact Accelerator (SIA) provides targeted capacity development to partners in OECD/DAC countries in support of the implementation of sustainable projects that contribute to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

The programme is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented in collaboration with Swedish embassies, the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN), Swedish Export Credit Corporation (SEK), Business Sweden and Swedfund. This collaboration grants SIA with access to a vast network of Swedish expertise.

We accelerate projects in the following sectors:

Clean energy (including biofuels)

Electrification, grid stability and efficiency

Sustainable transport

Water and waste

Forestry

Railway

Approach

By strengthening the capacity of partner institutions in OECD/DAC countries to implement projects in accordance with international sustainability standards, such as the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standards, the programme contributes to the realisation of sustainable projects that can attract funding in the international capital market.

The Sustainability Impact Accelerator offers a wide range of capacity development in areas such as:

⦁ Policy making
⦁ Technical training
⦁ Project management
⦁ Compliance with international sustainability standards
⦁ Sustainability (social, economic and environmental)
⦁ Change management and strategic leadership
⦁ Administration
⦁ Stakeholder dialogue

Supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The programme contributes to local achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda by:

⦁ Providing targeted capacity development to institutions in OECD/DAC countries
⦁ Strengthening capacity to implement sustainable projects
⦁ Accelerating implementation of sustainable and bankable projects in key sectors
⦁ Mobilising capital for investments in sustainable projects
⦁ Increasing the number of sustainable projects implemented
⦁ Engaging and aligning stakeholders
⦁ Promoting best available technology

Would you like to propose a project?

We are always open to receiving proposals. Although we cannot accept all projects, we welcome all project proposals. Accepted projects are enrolled in our programme process, which normally spans over a period of one-year.

Additional information

You can join our online community on LinkedIn for more information about our projects and upcoming tenders. 

For more information about the Sustainability Impact Accelerator, please contact Annie Ross, Programme Director, telephone number +46 8 783 82 95.

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PROPOSE A PROJECT

UP!

UPSKILLING OF UNION SHOP STEWARDS

lack of enabling environment for social dialogue at the workplace level, despite the provision of legislative acts that protect and promote workplace cooperation is a reoccuring issue  in Kenya. To implement good policy there must be a fertil ground.

Therefore SWP developed the UP!  project. Together with Swedish companies as an entry point, and with unions i South africa and Kenya. 

In Kenya SWP created the SWP UP! Programme targeting skills development of the union Shop Stewards from 18 companies in the Automotive sector in Kenya during 2021. As a result, the Stewards were able to use their skills to build trust and cooperation with management in new ways to avoid conflicts. 

A second cohort of training, in close cooperation with union AUKMW, takes place in 2022.

The training allows shop stewards to step out of their daily routines and understand their role and the purpose of their union, understand the labour market context, the laws that regulate relationships and the business itself. But on a human level, many shop stewards also highlighted that they feel respected as human beings, and that they have developed the skills to engage with supervisors and management and experience respect in professional relations. The experiences had deeply impressed them and helped to project the vision of dialogue and mutual respect and their own potential as a means to change workplaces.

The intervention of the SWP programme had a direct effect at the workplaces, where shop stewards listed several cases where they had managed to intervene and secure results in dialogue with management, avert crises or find solutions based on opportunities and the communication skills obtained during the SWP training. For the Amalgamated Metal Workers Unions in Kenya, the shop stewards pointed to how the training had enabled them to design their own strategies at the workplace in relation to supervisors and staff, and to achieve many concrete results.

Based on this shop steward upskilling, I feel confident that as a union we now have change ambassadors that will grow the industry, protect, and promote decent work principles for both the employer and the employees represented. And that disputes will be dealt with at the workplace level by though consultative dialogue.

Rose Omamo

General Secretary
Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT AND TRAININGS IN THE UP! PROJECT IN KENYA AND SOUTH AFRICA