Recent Groupe URD activities concerning the environment in humanitarian action

03/08/2017

At the last meeting of the Humanitarian Environment Network last June, the members discussed ecological cookers and Bolivia Inti Sud Soleil presented a number of cooking stoves that they use in development and emergency contexts (solar cookers and rocket stoves) and the issues at stake in programmes of this kind. The next meeting of the Humanitarian Environment Network will be held in MDM’s offices in Paris on 2 October [...]

The Humanitarian Environment Network began meeting in 2012, bringing together a number of NGOs committed to adopting environmentally-friendly practices. Facilitated by Groupe URD, it provides a forum to share experiences, discuss priorities for action and organisations’ needs in this area. It currently has members from a variety of organisations, such as Action Contre la Faim, Care France, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the French Red Cross, Groupe URD, Handicap International, Médecins Sans Frontières, Médecins du Monde, Première Urgence – Aide Médicale Internationale and Solidarités International. Any organization interested in adopting environmentally-friendly practices can join. For more information, please contact Samantha Brangeon.

The two reports from the evaluation we carried out for Electricians Without Borders (Électriciens sans frontières – ESF) in Haiti are now available. ESF’s LPV2 project led to the installation of around 465 solar street lamps in towns in the Ouest department (e.g. Port-au-Prince, Léogane, and Petit Goave) and therefore contributed to an LRRD approach. The evaluation looked at the general functioning of the project and its impact and was also an opportunity to use the quality reference framework that we developed with ESF in 2015. After an initial project involving the installation of solar street lamps in IDP camps in 2010/2011, the LPV2 project provided street lighting to the neighbourhoods where the IDPs resettled in rural and urban areas. This was an innovative project both for the organization and for the country where only 25% of the population has access to electricity. What is more, the project was carried out at a time when there was not a lot of solar energy, and undoubtedly contributed to the emergence of the sector. Today there is a large number of companies involved in selling and installing solar equipment.

The interaction between environmental issues and international aid will also be discussed at the Environmental Emergency Forum in Nairobi on 25-27 September. This international forum, which takes place every two years, will bring together humanitarian and environmental specialists. Groupe URD will be presenting its work on migration and the environment (case studies in Lebanon and Cameroon) and will be facilitating three workshops on environmental issues in humanitarian action and the role of humanitarian NGOs in protecting the environment.