Energy Access for Refugees
Overview
The number of people forced to leave their country and live as refugees, due to war and persecution, is really high. The total number of refugees in 2013 has even exceeded the total number of refugees after World War II and is continuously rising. [1]In 2014, UNHCR estimated that there are around 59.5 million displaced people worldwide.[2]
This article aims to explore the situation of energy access among refugee camps by consolidating the information from different publications.
We invite you to edit this article and enrich it with your valuable contributions. Please feel free to include a new publication, your personal experience as well as other information in this article.
Financial Implications
According to an assessment by the Women's Refugee Comission (WRC) in 2005, in humanitarian setting, refugees are provided with food, shelter but rarely with cooking energy. Energy access for refugees is a basic humanitarian need but has been mostly ignored/undermined. Additionally, a global total of US$2.1 billion is spend per year for energy access among displaced people. The majority of this cost is borne by the refugees themselves.[3]
Environmental Degradation
80% of the 8.7 million refugees and displaced persons in camps worldwide, rely on traditional biomass for cooking and have no access to electricity. They rely mostly on forest nearby the camps for firewood. As a result, 64,700 hectares of forest are cleared and burned every year in areas near refugees camps. [3]
Similarly, burning traditional biomass for cooking is one of the major cause of indoor air pollution. The WHO estimates that around 20,000 forcibly displaced people die prematurely each year from diseases caused by indoor air pollution.[4]
Gender based violence (GBV)
In most of the refugees camps, women and children are mainly responsible for collecting firewood and in many cases, they travel up to 20 km into unsafe areas to collect firewood. This could lead to cases of sexual assault and robbery among women and children while collecting firewood. In most cases, the women and children, do not report the sexual assault as they are afraid of social stigma as well as further persecution by the police and the local security authority. [4]
Solution
Introducing improved cookstoves and basic solar lanterns could save US$323 million a year in fuel costs in return for a one-time capital investment of US$ 335 million for the equipment. It would also save around 6.85 million tCO2 per year.[3]
Publications
Publications dealing with the issue of energy access for refugees :
- Heat, Light and Power for Refugees: Saving Lives, Reducing Costs
- Fuel-efficient stove programs in humanitarian settings: An Implementer’s Toolkitby USAID 2010.
To add further publications, simply edit this section.
Further Information
Cooking Energy in Refugee Situations - article on energypedia
References
- ↑ Global refugee figures highest since WW2, UN says. (2014, June 20). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-27921938
- ↑ Worldwide displacement hits all-time high as war and persecution increase. (2015). Retrieved December 5, 2015, from http://www.unhcr.org/558193896.html
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lahn, G., & Grafham, O. (2015). Heat, Light and Power for Refugees Saving Lives, Reducing Costs. Chatham House Report for the Moving Energy Initiative. http://bit.ly/1l6cCEk Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "Lahn, G., & Grafham, O. (2015). Heat, Light and Power for Refugees Saving Lives, Reducing Costs. Chatham House Report for the Moving Energy Initiative. http://bit.ly/1l6cCEk" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "Lahn, G., & Grafham, O. (2015). Heat, Light and Power for Refugees Saving Lives, Reducing Costs. Chatham House Report for the Moving Energy Initiative. http://bit.ly/1l6cCEk" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Safe Access to Fuel and Energy (SAFE) in Nyarugusu, Tanzania: A Rapid Assessment Report. (2014).
