UN News Centre

15 December 2011

A company that transforms groundnut shells into fuel briquettes in Gambia and a business in Kenya where women produce aloe-based skin care products are among this year’s winners of a United Nations-backed award recognizing projects that help promote sustainable development.The 2011 Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) Awards, announced today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), spotlights new locally-driven enterprises that have found creative ways to overcome environmental and developmental problems while also creating economic and social opportunities for their communities.

“The SEED winners illuminate a business model that cannot only be successful but have outcomes that meet the environmental and social imperatives of communities and countries across the globe,” stated UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

In addition to the general SEED Awards, a special Gender Equity Award was announced this year as part of SEED’s partnership with UN Women. The prize recognizes an initiative that not only fulfils the general criteria of the SEED Awards but is also women-led, or owned, and prioritizes gender equality or women’s empowerment as a core objective…This year’s SEED Awards have a special focus on Africa, placing particular emphasis on initiatives from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe…Read more.