LUSAKA, March. 16 (Xinhua) -- Norwegian partners has given Zambia 700,000 U.S. dollars for provision of solar energy to the African country's clinics and hospitals, a top United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) official said Thursday.
The grant, provided by Innovation Norway, a Norwegian consortium of partners comprising the government and private organizations, will enable the UNDP to supply the Zambian health authorities with solar energy solutions under a project Solar for Health.
UNDP Country Director Martim Maya said during the presentation of the project in Lusaka, the Zambian capital, that installations will provide energy to off-grid rural health facilities and also back-up solutions to on-grid district hospitals as an alternative to expensive and polluting diesel generators.
Vidar Ellingsen, delegation leader of Innovation Norway, said the consortium also intends to develop solutions for both medical and solid waste management at hospitals through developing technology that could address Zambian needs.
Four Norwegian companies have been contracted to do the installations.
The UNDP has signed an agreement with the Zambian government for the Solar for Health project aimed at increasing the proportion of solar energy supply of the health facilities in order to increase the number of health facilities with access to electricity and improve health care.
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