Yulia Sugandi
Head of Solutions Mapping
UNDP Indonesia Accelerator Lab

With only a decade of action left, what ways can you contribute to reaching our collective Goals on time?

We want to accelerate collective action by building awareness about the value of social innovation. We are on a mission to build a resilient system against water-related disasters by addressing bottlenecks that prevent some low-income urban communities from developing their own solutions. 

Sesil Verdzadze
Head of Solutions Mapping
UNDP Georgia Accelerator Lab 

What is the first challenge you and the team aim to tackle? Why does it matter of your country today?

During our first 100 days, our Lab aims to tackle waste management (with a particular focus on plastics), raise awareness on climate data to a wider public, and identify how to support better uptake of e-services among the rural population and vulnerable groups. It is noteworthy to share that since the establishment of the UNDP Georgia Accelerator Lab, we have received several requests for cooperation and have already established new partnerships around sustainable packaging and awareness-raising campaigns against vaccination disinformation.

Ana Djú
Head of Solutions Mapping
UNDP Guinea Bissau Accelerator Lab

What is the first challenge you and the team aim to tackle? Why does it matter of your country today?

The first challenge me and the team aim to tackle is Guinea Bissau is the lack of quality public services in the country. This is important because how can the UNDP Accelerator Lab possibly consider any other areas to start with when the vast majority of the population does not have access to basic social infrastructure? It’s UBUNTU from here!

Claudia Olmedo
Head of Exploration
UNDP El Salvador Accelerator Lab

With only a decade of action left, what ways can you contribute to reaching our collective Goals on time?

• By facilitating human-centered horizon scanning and future forecast processes that contribute to developing an inclusive ecosystem empowering citizen through actionable knowledge, sustainable infrastructure, and people-centered public policy design.

• By exploring the crossroads between development challenges and the actors concerning them. 

•  By transforming "extractive" research models into participatory models that "give back" actionable information to communities, organizations, and institutions.

Hassanatou Sow
Head of Solutions Mapping
UNDP Senegal Accelerator Lab

What is the first challenge you and the team aim to tackle? Why does it matter to your country today?

We are working on floods, a major and recurring problem causing lots of damage, specifically to vulnerable groups in Senegal. Exacerbated by climate change, floods are negatively impacting all sectors from education, health, economy, infrastructure, agriculture, to name a few. There is a need for urgent action to prevent floods and mitigate the risk.

Larissa Demel
Head of Experimentation
UNDP Panama Accelerator Lab

With only a decade of action left, what ways can you contribute to reaching our collective Goals on time?

By learning from the people closest to the problem and understanding their needs as well as solutions they've built. Our Lab has already been conducting field visits ranging from half-day solution safaris to week-long multi-community visits where we've trekked to landfills and interviewed communities and local policymakers on their perceptions of the solid waste value chain. These insights have become the base in building our first portfolio of experiments.

Neuza Buque
Head of Experimentation
UNDP Mozambique Accelerator Lab

What is the first challenge you and the team aim to tackle? Why does it matter to your country today?

We're exploring how data is produced and managed to inform decision-making in disaster and crisis management situations in Mozambique. As a country currently managing a few crises caused by natural disasters and political instability, data availability and quality is crucial to managing these fast-paced situations. We believe that in understanding and mapping out the existing systems, we can find gaps and opportunities for improvement that can lead to more efficient results.

Yomna Saleh
Head of Experimentation
UNDP Egypt Accelerator Lab

With only a decade of action left, what ways can you contribute to reaching our collective Goals on time?

I believe the key to acceleration is knowledge sharing and collective action. Finding the right way to work out loud without turning into an abstract noise is one thing that I am keen to achieve. This approach can only work by getting everyone on board, transfer a progressive mindset, and eventually building together.

Aldarsaikhan Tuvshinbat
Head of Exploration
UNDP Mongolia Accelerator Lab

What is the first challenge you and the team aim to tackle? Why does it matter to your country today?

UNDP Mongolia’s Accelerator Lab identified digital transformation in public service as the first challenge. The accelerated digitalization brings new opportunities, but it also exacerbates the existing inequalities. We believe extensive digital service delivery is inevitable, and our focus is to ensure that this impending future is inclusive.