For National and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) to Implement a targeted renewable energy intervention under KOICA’s Korean Ecosystem Fund: solarization of two youth centers—one each in Eastern Equatoria and Warrap States—combined wit

Link to Atlas Project

00125970 – Peace and Community Cohesion II

Documents

Template financial proposal – Estimate
Call for Proposal Template
Updated TOR
ANNEX C and D to be completed

Overview

Executive Summary

UNDP South Sudan’s Regional Peacebuilding and Preventing Violent Extremism (PBPVE) Programme has achieved substantial results in 10 target communities across Eastern Equatoria and Warrap States: 1,439 beneficiaries—65% female—including returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), persons with disabilities, and ex-combatants, have received entrepreneurship training and productive start-up kits across priority value chains spanning agribusiness, livestock, fisheries, and ICT.

Despite these gains, a structural barrier limits the full potential of these investments: the near-total absence of reliable electricity supply prevents income-generating activities (IGAs) and VSLA/cooperative enterprises from operating beyond daylight hours, eliminates cold storage for fisheries and perishable produce, and limits youth center programming to daytime only. A UNDP June 2025 value chain assessment confirmed energy access as the single most critical bottleneck across all six priority sectors identified.

This concept note proposes a targeted renewable energy intervention under KOICA’s Korean Ecosystem Fund: solarization of two youth centers—one each in Eastern Equatoria and Warrap States—combined with productive-use energy assets for existing VSLA/IGA groups and cooperatives across 10 communities. The intervention is projected to triple beneficiary reach from 1,439 to over 4,300, generate new income streams, reduce post-harvest losses by 30–50%, and position community members as solar maintenance technicians and service entrepreneurs. World Vision South Sudan—supported by World Vision Korea—is proposed as implementing partner, combining over 35 years of in-country presence with direct Korean organizational linkage that aligns with the Korean Ecosystem Fund framework.

Rational for the call

Solarization and energy support for women/youth entrepreneurs, VSLA groups, cooperatives, farmers, and income-generating enterprises like grind mills dramatically enhances market functioning and productivity by providing reliable power for extended operating hours, cold storage chains for fisheries and perishable agricultural produce (reducing 30-50% post-harvest losses), and mechanized processing (grinding, milling, oil extraction) that increases output quality and volume for market competitiveness. This enables nighttime market trading, phone charging services such as revenue streams, irrigation pumps for year-round farming, and digital marketing via powered devices, while building value-added skills in solar maintenance, agro-processing, and cooperative management. These interventions complement existing projects by creating energy-independent hubs that amplify VSLA capital circulation, link producers to urban markets, reduce dependency on costly diesel generators, and position women/youth groups as solar service providers—ultimately strengthening entire agricultural/fisheries value chains from production through preservation to profitable sales in fragile, off-grid contexts like South Sudan.

Solarization of youth centers in Eastern Equatoria and Warrap State significantly enhances youth employment opportunities by providing reliable electricity that enables evening training programs, digital skills workshops (computer literacy, content creation), and income-generating activities such as phone charging services, barbering, tailoring, and small-scale refrigeration for food vending. Reliable power extends operational hours beyond daylight limitations, attracts more youth participants to vocational training, and creates maintenance/technician roles for solar systems themselves, while powering equipment like sewing machines, grinders, and welding tools for practical skills training. These centers become hubs for digital entrepreneurship (social media marketing, online sales) and VSLA group meetings, directly linking youth to productive assets and market opportunities in fragile contexts where grid electricity is unavailable, ultimately reducing idleness and positioning youth as solar energy technicians, service providers, and community innovators.

Objective

To expand beneficiaries’ access to markets and upskilling opportunities through renewable energy and productive-asset infrastructure, thereby sustaining and scaling the existing investments of the PBPVE Programme 

 

Target Location and Beneficiaries

• Geographical Scope: Warrap (Tonj North*, Tonj East, Tonj South, Gogrial East) and Eastern Equatoria (Magwi*, Torit, Ikotos, Kapoeta East, Kapoeta South)
• Primary Targets: Solarization of 2 youth centers (one per state)
• Secondary Targets: 15 active VSLA/Cooperative Groups and associated IGA members business locations

See TOR for more detail and Complete ANNEX C and ANNEX D​